The rules have changed
by The Sangheili Mutant
Summary: Truces don't last forever... After one violent act dubbed 'mutant terrorism', the President nullifies the truce and orders the execution of any and all mutants in the United States. *slightly AU *set between X2 and X3 *rated for violence, brief sexual content, and mildly graphic rape, so please do not read if any of these bother you.
1. Chapter 1: an act of terrorism

A/N: I feel that I have matured enough as a writer to attempt a 20+ chapter story. Hopefully, you readers will enjoy it as much as I did!

A/N: no correlation to my previous X-Men stories.

Pairings: Cyclops/Jean, Bobby/Rogue, Pyro/Mystique.

Disclaimer: I do not own any recognizable characters in the story. They all belong to Marvel. The only two I made up are James and Mark.

Chapter One: An act of terrorism

61 Days, 14 hours, 3 minutes, and 11 seconds. That's how long the truce concocted by the X-Men lasted. Two months of peace and freedom was crapped on by one mutant, and one too many beers. No one knows this mutants name, but everyone (or at least a vast majority) hates him.

A seemingly harmless prank committed in a drunken stupor turned into a massacre, and an attempt on the President's life – spray painting a giant cock and balls on the side of the Whitehouse with disturbingly visual details should have been seen as a no-no, even to a drunken mutant with a cloaking ability!

If that wasn't bad enough, the mutant's invisibility wore off, probably due to being intoxicated, and was spotted by security. So, like anyone caught with their pants down, he ran like hell, but was soon cornered and surrounded. Now what he should've done was surrender, and he'd get released with a fine, and a slap on the wrist, because of the truce. Instead, he decided to fight his way out, damning mutant kind before he even threw his first punch.

13 days, 20 hours, 16 minutes, and 45 seconds. That's how long it's been since the President, after witnessing the mutant kill the handful of guards with their own guns and was almost killed himself as he tried to help, declared _Operation New Day_.

After the President's life-saving surgery, he quickly green-lit the order to begin the systematic execution of any known and unknown mutant organizations, societies, and individuals.

His exact words were: "Kill them. Find them all and kill them. If they won't abide by the truce, then there _is_ no truce!"

Once those words were spoken, all Police, SWAT, Army, D.O.D., and pretty much anyone with the authority to use a gun was tasked with the job of locating and killing anyone that possessed the X-gene.

Nearly two weeks ago, the genocide began again.

A/N: This was just a prologue-type thing. Things will definitely pick up very quickly!


	2. Chapter 2: Adjusting

Chapter 2: Adjusting

(Cyclops)

Everything else pales in comparison to the death of a loved one, and it felt like nothing could alleviate the knot in his chest, the hole in his heart, or the pit in his gut caused by the death of the love of his life.

Dozens of condolences were given to him, but eventually, the kind words and small gifts (albeit thoughtful) became meaningless, empty gestures. He knew everyone liked Jean and everyone would miss her, but none of them knew her like he did. Not Storm, not the Professor, and especially not Logan, who seemed nearly as heartbroken as him. None of them could even begin to understand what he was going through, but they all _claimed_ they did. The nightmares, seeing her face whenever he closed his eyes, hearing her voice when the world was quiet…they couldn't even begin to grasp at his pain even though they've tried to. Talking. Little one-on-one meets. 'Grief counseling', they called it. But none of it mattered. Every day that passed only made his heart break even more because Jean was still dead. She gave her life to save them, to save _him_, but the pain was still there.

Jean was dead, and she wasn't coming back.

And he was forced to continue on without her.

* * *

><p>(Pyro)<p>

Fitting in with Magneto and Mystique was easier than he had thought. He wasn't treated like a kid; he was treated like an equal. He was finally allowed to embrace his potential, and learn at the hands of the master.

Magneto was a visionary, a true leader; he had learned more from the two misunderstood convicts than he had in the years of classes at Xavier's school.

The three of them bonded over time, and the fact became evident to him when he was allowed to make solo runs for both supplies, and for recon purposes.

Although he found himself missing Bobby and Rogue, the only two people he ever thought of as friends, he knew that they were happy together. They didn't need him.

* * *

><p>(Xavier)<p>

A truce had finally been formed between human and mutant kind, but had the price been too great? Yes, Stryker was gone, but so was Jean. Scott was practically catatonic, and Logan couldn't stop drinking to save his life. Ororo tried to do her best and even started teaching again before anyone else, but he could tell her passion wasn't as strong as it used to be. Kurt Wagner, a viable addition to the X-Men, quickly left after the truce agreement.

Bobby, Rogue, Pete, and Kitty were inducted into the X-Men about two weeks ago – Jean's death had kick-started their training, and they were maturing much faster than he would've liked, but he couldn't blame them. Pyro had gone with Magneto, a move that was both surprising, and not.

And he? He was adjusting to the new life ahead of him; one that he prayed would be everything everyone needed to move on.

* * *

><p>(President McKenna)<p>

"How are we doing, gentlemen?" he asked, approaching the operating commanders.

"All major cities have been briefed, and officials have been given lists of all known mutants, their locations, and their abilities." a man that vaguely resembled William Stryker informed.

"Okay, men, this is it. Time to show them this is what it's come to." he said, giving the 'OK' to begin the assault phase of _Operation New Day_.

* * *

><p>AN: the real fun begins next chapter! We get a look at a relationship in the Brotherhood, and the beginnings of _Operation New Day_.


	3. Chapter 3: Like cattle

Chapter 3: Like cattle

(Mystique)

She had just finished checking out the groceries at one of their usual stores, posing as her usual identity when she needed to mingle with the Homo sapiens. It had been two months, but she still wasn't used to buying food. When it was just her and Erik, they were able to survive by stealing what they needed.

Since Pyro had joined them, however, they needed more to satisfy his teenage appetite. She was genuinely surprised how much the kid could put away in one sitting; and the junk food, good god! She was amazed he didn't weight three hundred pounds!

* * *

><p>As she closed the trunk of the stolen car they used to make their supply runs, nearly half a dozen police cars entered the parking lot, all stopping near the front doors. She started the car, and watched the raid, wondering if some serial killer was inside the market. Thinking nothing more of the matter, she drove back to the base, always dutifully checking the rearview mirror to make sure no one was following her as she neared the base.<p>

After setting the bags in the grass, she quickly covered the car to hide it from view even though people never came this far into the forest, and she still had a small hike ahead of her before she reached the actual base. She could imagine Erik and Pyro waiting for her, the latter starting to get anxious for his treats.

By the time her comrades were in her sight, she began thinking about the mysterious cop raid again, and decided she would mention it after the three grocery bags were unpacked and put away.

"Did you get my-" Pyro started as he walked towards her.

"Yes, I got your Rocky Road ice cream." she said, lifting one bag higher than the others.

"Hey, don't blame me. Iceman got me into that whole midnight-ice-cream-ritual. It's like an addiction now." the brunette defended.

"I never said anything like that." she replied, smiling as she stopped in front of him.

The month-old couple kissed briefly before Pyro stole two bags, taking them into the lair. Before she went down to help unpack, she turned to Erik.

"There's something we need to talk about." she said.

He looked at her with a curious expression. "Indeed we do. The news?"

"I think I saw it in action." she replied. The two joined Pyro underground and she placed her remaining bags down.

"It turns out the mysterious prophet was right." Erik announced.

Pyro froze momentarily before turning around. "You mean that shadow guy that pops up on TV and interrupts the news?" he asked.

"When I left the store, seven police cars surrounded the front entrance; who knows how many were in back. I didn't think anything of it until now. What if they were going after mutants?" she asked.

"Son of a bitch. What about the truce?" Pyro asked.

"Truces don't last forever. They never have." Erik said.

"So, what, is this war now?" Pyro asked, his eyes showing mixed emotions.

"I believe we are at war again, yes." Erik said, nodding.

* * *

><p>(Kitty)<p>

"What do you think that guy meant last night?" she asked Rogue as they walked towards the game room.

"You mean that blacked-out guy with the creepy voice changer claiming that we're going to be hunted down and rounded up like cattle?" He sounded crazy." Rogue said, sitting on the couch by her boyfriend.

"You talking about that 'Mr. XYZ' guy?" Bobby asked, holding her gloved hand.

"What if he was right?" Kitty asked.

"There's no reason to worry, Kitty. We formed a truce, and it's been two months of freedom. They made it illegal to go after mutants." Bobby said.

"Just because something's illegal doesn't mean people will stop doing it. And besides, I have a bad feeling about that guy that keeps popping up on TV He seemed more fanatical last night than usual. He said 'it's begun'. What does that mean?" she asked, hoping she was just overreacting.

"You're just a worry-wart, Kitty. If something happened to end the truce, the Professor would know about it, and he'd tell us." Rogue said.

"I guess so." she replied, not really believing it.

* * *

><p>(Toad)<p>

The door opened, filling the tiny room with a blinding light. He squinted and shielded his eyes from the glare as several men entered the room.

"Why won't you tell me where we are?" he asked, his eyes still trying to adjust to the harsh, white light.

"Are you ready to talk?" one of the men snarled.

"Just tell me-" he started, but a weapon that resembled a night stick struck his back. He yelled and fell face-first into his own filth.

"Be glad we didn't kill you like your brutish buddy." another man said. They all left and shut the door, sealing out the light. Toad wiped the shit from his face, flinging it away as he sat on the opposite end of the room, where it was feces free.

Sabretooth was dead? He's been dead all this time? And why wouldn't anyone tell him anything? This was serious violation of the truce…but oh, that's right. The truce didn't exist anymore.

Sometime later, the door opened again, and he again backed away. Three men entered the room, their guns focused on him as a woman came in with a syringe.

'_Not this again_!' he silently complained as his heart started beating faster. "I don't know anything, I swear!"

He tried melting away into the wall as the smell of perfume grew stronger. The needle pierced his skin and he whimpered, feeling an immediate sensation of exhaustion wash over him, forcing his eyes shut.

He awoke when something cold and wet splashed into his face. As he jerked and tried to flinch away, he realized he was in a room much different than the kind he usually woke up in when they questioned and tortured him. Also, instead of some soldier, or suit, he was seated across from the President himself.

"You!" he accused, trying to free his hands from their restraints so he could strangle the man. He'd use his tongue, but most of it was gone; severed when he attempted a similar task when he first arrived. Days, weeks, months ago, he couldn't be sure.

"You know," the President started, straightening his tie. "I really didn't want to fly all the way out here to deal with you. I'm the one who gave the order to capture you. I thought you'd be more compliant than others we've tried to use, but I was wrong. You won't tell us what we want to know, so your usefulness has ended."

Toad swallowed, trying to slow his rapid breathing. He was absolutely terrified at the moment, and he didn't care who knew.

"Mortimer, or as you prefer, Toad, you are no longer needed." the man said, standing up. Toad watched as a soldier came up behind him, replacing the President, who began to leave.

"Oh this is it, isn't it? Fine! Go ahead, get it over with! You can't kill us all!" he yelled, not wanting to die, but knowing the time had come.

The President looked back at him with a sigh, and for a moment, he thought he saw regret in the human's eyes. The door shut, and the soldier took his gun from its holster, putting it against the mutant's head.

He closed his eyes, knowing he was a dead man. The last sound his ears ever had the ability to hear was an impossibly loud bang emit from the last thing his skin felt: the cold metal barrel of the pistol.

Little did he know that the man who shot him was reluctant to pull the trigger.

* * *

><p>AN: What to look forward to next chapter: a drunken Wolverine, a moody Cyclops, and an attack on a mutant refuge.


	4. Chapter 4: Vanishing act

Chapter 4: Vanishing act

(Wolverine)

After downing his third bottle of beer, he had to take a piss. He passed many students in the hall on his way to the bathroom. Why was the place so packed, anyway? Oh, that's right! It was Saturday, duh! No classes!

He closed the bathroom door and unzipped, sighing in relief as his bladder emptied.

"Logan?" a voice asked. A female voice. He froze and quickly zipped his pants as he flushed the…toilet? He could've sworn he was standing at a urinal.

He should've felt embarrassed as he turned to face whoever caught him, but he only felt slight amusement at what he had done.

"Are you…you're drunk." Storm said, looking helpless…or was it hopeless?

"I am not." he childishly insisted, leaving the stall.

"Then why are you in the ladies' room?" she asked, watching him wash his hands.

"It's much prettier, and it's closer." he said, drying his hands as he left the bathroom.

"How many times are you going to do this, Logan? You're not setting a very good example for the students." Storm scolded, following him into the kitchen.

"For the love of god, Storm! It's not like I drink in front of them! I have my own hideout." he said, grabbing various sandwich-making materials.

"The Professor's concerned about you." she said.

"Me? I'm one hundred percent fine. It's Scott you should be concerned about. He's barely left his room in two months. The place stinks, I can smell it from here." he said, piling slices of meat on his mustard-slathered bread.

"He just needs time." she said.

"Time, right. It's certainly helping all of us move on." he said sarcastically as he placed the top piece of bread on his breakfast or lunch or snack.

"You were both in love with her. We don't expect you to be all smiles and rainbows, but we were hoping you'd at least try to move on." she said.

"I am trying." he said, taking a huge bite of his meal.

"Drinking yourself into oblivion isn't trying, Logan." she said, leaving the room.

After swallowing, he realized he was no longer hungry and tossed the sandwich into the garbage.

'_X-Men, please assemble at Cerebro_.' Xavier's mental request echoed slightly in his head.

Even with several beers in him, he was immediately on alert and headed into the elevator. He ran into Storm on the way and the two shared a look as she pressed the 'down' button. The youngest additions to the team wandered over, excited and nervous. As they piled into the elevator, Scott arrived, looking surprisingly fresh-faced. Storm placed a hand on his shoulder and the elevator descended, filled with the anxious whispers of the newbies.

The cramped elevator was quickly vacated as it stopped, and the team approached Cerebro, where Professor Xavier was waiting.

"What I'm about to reveal to you will come as a shock, I'm sorry to say. It seems our attempt at a peaceful coexistence with humanity has failed." the eldest member of the X-Men informed.

"What?" Storm asked among the whispers between the youngest members.

"I'll show you." Xavier said, advancing into Cerebro. Everyone looked at each other, unsure if they were supposed to go inside.

"I believe that was my invitation to you all." Xavier said, already at the end of the corridor. The X-Men hurried inside and crowded around their leader as the door slid shut and Xavier put on his helmet. "Okay, everyone, please don't move."

The mutant-identifying red lights filled the large room, causing Rogue, Bobby, Kitty, and Tin Man to both gasp and gawk.

"These lights represent every mutant on the planet." Xavier explained.

"There are so many!" Rogue said in awe.

"Yesterday, there was three percent more." Xavier said.

"What do you mean?" Kitty asked.

"The number of mutants, for some reason, is rapidly declining. I believe this is evidence of our failure." Xavier said.

"So, people are just randomly killing mutants?" Wolverine asked, wanting a cigar.

"No, Logan, not randomly. The deaths are localized to this continent." Xavier said; shortly after, a tiny red light in the Florida area of the United States vanished.

"This is because that one mutant tried to kill the President. But why go after all of us?" he asked.

The red lights faded away as Xavier removed his helmet. "From what I've been able to get from some long-distance mind reading of White House officials, they think we're staging some sort of rebellion."

"Rebellion?" Scott asked quietly. Everyone looked at him, almost as if they forgot what he sounded like.

"Why would we rebel? We had peace. It's what we all wanted." Scott continued, looking depressed again.

"It's been almost two weeks since that attack on the President. Why retaliate now?" Rogue asked.

"I'm not sure." Xavier said.

"Maybe they needed to get their affairs in order." Storm suggested.

"Or maybe they needed to pull the sticks out of their…" Wolverine's statement was appropriately cut off as the lights momentarily flickered.

"Get upstairs!" Xavier ordered as Cerebro's doors opened.

The team ran to the elevator, and Wolverine could hear screaming above them, but no one else noticed. He unsheathed his claws as the elevator started its ascent.

"Something's going on up there. I think we're under attack." he informed.

* * *

><p>(Bobby)<p>

The elevator doors opened to reveal a raid-in-progress. He immediately thought back to the raid orchestrated by the now-dead Stryker.

The X-Men piled out of the elevator, immediately on the offensive. The group split up, and he and Rogue went to the left. Others went to the right, and others went upstairs.

The two of them gathered up a group of students and led them to one of the emergency escape tunnels. Bobby kept an eye out as Rogue explained to the kids what to do.

"Come with us!" one of the kids pleaded, scared beyond belief; which was completely understandable.

"We can't. We have to help the others, but don't worry. You're safe now. Just follow the tunnel, and head to the safe house." Rogue said, closing the door only after the kids started leaving.

"Why would they attack in the middle of the day?" he asked as they turned a corner.

"They shouldn't be attacking at all, Bobby." Rogue said.

"I know." he replied. A burst of gunfire caused them to stop in their tracks. "That was really close by."

His heart started beating faster. He tried to _not_ be scared, tried to be more like the Professor, or Wolverine, but he was internally freaking out. What if they were hurt or killed? What if the others were? What if the younger kids were?

"It'll be okay, Bobby." Rogue said, taking his hand. He looked at her and saw she was equally terrified.

The duo advanced in the direction they heard the shots come from, and almost got fried by an optic blast as they turned a corner.

"It's us!" he yelled, standing back up after having to crouch to avoid the attack. They turned the corner and saw Scott standing over half a dozen fallen men.

"Sorry about that." the older mutant apologized.

"It's okay." he said, looking down the hall.

"You two okay?" Scott asked.

"We're fine." Rogue said.

"Okay, stay close." Scott said, leasing the way. They entered the kitchen, where a man was rummaging through cabinets like he was looking for something, and was oblivious to the three of them. Scott opened fire, incapacitating the man in seconds, and kept firing as the man crumpled to the ground.

"Stop, he's down!" Bobby yelled, running forward to see if the guy was dead. The optic beam stopped and Bobby saw Rogue let go of a pale Scott. He turned to the soldier and knew with one look that he was gone.

"What the hell was that?" Bobby asked as he spun around to face Scott. "We start killing people, we're no better than _them_!"

"Them?" Rogue scoffed.

'_Oh, great. Now she's gonna act like him too for a while_.' he thought, letting out a small sigh.

One emotional, laser-firing mutant was hard enough to look after, especially since he probably killed a dozen people to blow off steam…but two? Even though the personality change was temporary, it was going to be tough. Scott looked at Rogue funny and the trio moved on from the kitchen, towards the echoes of random bursts of gunfire.

* * *

><p>AN: up ahead: we jump a handful of hours into the future to learn the fates of two young students, and one Brotherhood mutant gets captured, pulling our favorite X-Men baddies into the war.


	5. Chapter 5: Trouble in Paradise

*A/N : very brief sexual content ahead. Please scan ahead to the asterisk (*) if very thought of sex disgusts you.

Chapter 5: Trouble in paradise

(Pyro)

Moans, groans, and 'Oh Pyro!'s. Where was the euphoric cry of sexual ecstasy? He stopped thrusting and rolled off her, hearing her gasp in protest, and turned away whilst simultaneously swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

"What's wrong?" Mystique asked. He felt her hand rub his shoulder and he gently kissed it.

"Is this…good for you?" he asked.

"The sex? It's been great." she said.

"But?" he asked, sensing the word was on the tip of her tongue.

"But tonight…it was a little lackluster." she admitted.

"I'm sorry, babe. I just…I can't stop thinking about Bobby." he said with a sigh.

"Bobby? You're fucking me and you're thinking about your old roommate? What, would you prefer if I looked like him while we-" she started.

"No!" he interrupted, facing her. "God, no. That'd give me nightmares."

"Then what is it?" she asked.

* "I just keep thinking Bobby and Rogue are in trouble." he said.

"You're just missing them, that's all." Mystique said.

"No, it's not!" he insisted, pulling on his boxers. "I have this bad feeling that something happened over there. That school's a well-known mutant hideout. What if they were attacked?" he asked, starting to pace.

"Come back to bed, baby. We'll check out the school in the morning." she said, scooting over to his side of the bed.

He folded his arms and locked eyes with her. "Can we go now? Please?"

She sighed and climbed out of bed.

"Fine. I'll get Erik." she said, leaving their bedroom. He threw on a pair of jeans and a shirt and grabbed his lighter before following in Mystique's footsteps. His thoughts were so immersed in why he was feeling the way he was, that he almost ran smack into Mystique as she left Magneto's room.

"He'll be right out." she said.

"What'd you tell him?" he asked, hoping he wasn't going to be the one to blame when they went there only to find everything was fine.

"I said we had reason to believe the school was subject to attack. He's Charles Xavier's friend, he won't hesitate if he thinks he's in real danger." she said.

"They act more like arch enemies." he mumbled.

"They're rivals. They have their differences, but they won't just idly stand by as the other is about to be slaughtered." she said.

"I knew there was a reason I loved you." he said, pulling her into a hug.

Magneto emerged from his room wearing his usual get-up.

"That helmet still looks dorky." Pyro said, wondering if the guy had any other mutant outfits.

"It wasn't so dorky at Alkali Lake, was it?" the elder mutant asked.

"Touché." he remarked, heading outside. He stared up at the starry sky, trying to shake the nagging feeling of imminent danger out of his mind. Why was he still so concerned about Bobby and Rogue? If they had cared about him, they would have sopped him from leaving the jet all those months ago, right? Why was he such a worry wart?

Magneto and Mystique emerged from the lair and the door leading underground was hidden from view.

"Lead the way, young Padawan." Magneto ordered with the wave of a hand.

"_Star Wars_? Nice." he said, leading the way through the trees. He knew this area like the back of his hand now. He always remembered his first day in the forest, he had gotten so unbelievably lost it took him two days to get back to the Brotherhood, much to their amusement and surprise.

The moon was a sliver shy of being full (whether it was waxing or waning, he had no clue), and they had enough light to see as they navigated to the car.

"Okay, it's right up ahead. I'm driving." he said, lightly jogging forward to clear the nest of branches enveloping their ride.

"Help! Help!" a young voice cried, instantly alerting the three of them. They looked around and saw two young kids come out from the bushes. Pyro recognized them; they were students at the school!

"Jones? Theresa? What are you guys doing all the way out here?" he asked, approaching them slowly.

"We were attacked and we…we got lost." Theresa replied.

He remembered her mutant name: Siryn. She saved their asses the night Stryker raided the school.

"Who else made it out?" he asked, crouching down to their level.

"A bunch of other kids." Jones said.

"Yeah? What about the teachers?" he asked.

"They stayed. But that was hours ago." the younger male replied.

Pyro blinked in confusion. "Hours? How long ago was the school attacked?"

"It was after lunch." Theresa answered, rubbing her arms.

'_Shit! That long ago_?' he thought. "Okay, how about you guys go with my friend Mystique here and she'll get you guys something to eat, huh? How's that sound?" he asked.

"She's scary." Jones whispered.

He looked back at Mystique, hiding his smile as she scowled at him. "O-okay, what about Erik?" he tried, looking to their leader.

"Isn't that Magneto? He's a bad guy." Jones stated.

"Yeah, why are you with him?" Theresa asked.

'_God, kids and their stupid questions…I didn't miss this_.' he thought, standing up. He turned to face the Brotherhood and shrugged.

"We were just about to go check on the school. We'll take you back." Mystique offered.

"And these two will behave themselves." he chimed in.

"Okay." Jones said, holding hands with Theresa as they stepped closer.

Pyro had to relinquish the driving duties to Magneto since he was more or less forced to sit in back with the students. While they drove down the quiet, empty roads of Westchester, the students explained the traumatic attack on the school as best as any scared, traumatized kid could. By the time they parked across from the school, the students were half asleep, but the sight of their home quickly woke them.

Everyone scanned the school, examining its safety. No open doors or windows, no blood, lights on.

"So what do you want to do?" he asked Magneto.

"I want you and I to check it out. Mystique, you say here to…" their boss's request was cut off as a bullet whizzed by and cracked the back window of the car. This caused the kids to scream, and Theresa's wail reverberated throughout the small car, making the shrill scream that much more intense. Everyone covered their ears in an attempt to drown out the siren screech, except the girl, who was luckily immune to her own ability.

Pyro winced as he removed one hand and clamped it over her mouth. "We can't protect you if you're making our ears bleed!" he hissed, sounding harsher than he meant.

"The shot came from that way!" Mystique said, pointing. The Brotherhood jumped out of the car as the students hid on the floor of the car. The three of them looked around for the shooter, and another shot ricocheted off the road near his feet. He jumped back and looked for the gunman, but even with the light from the school, he couldn't spot him/her.

Something clattered and rolled along the road towards him from behind, and he spun around, flicking open his lighter. Before his mind could even register that the object rolling towards him was a flashbang, it exploded.

His vision was filled by a glowing white light in the shape of a firework, and it wouldn't go away no matter how much he blinked. His ears were ringing and he felt himself swaying before he finally lost his balance and collapsed. The lights dancing before his eyes started to fade a little, but his attempts to get back up were fruitless.

He tried yelling for Magneto and Mystique to get away, to leave him behind, but he couldn't hear his own voice. There was a sudden sting in his neck and the effects of the sedative were immediate. He was barely able to make out the car's tail lights speeding away before darkness surrounded him.

When his eyes opened again, he found himself still unable to move much, only to find that this time it was due to restraints, not drugs. Handcuffs, to be precise.

Sitting across the table from him was some guy in a suit, and at every corner of the room was a soldier holding a big-ass gun.

"Let's get this started, shall we?" the man asked, straightening up as Pyro became more alert.

"What the fuck is this?" Pyro asked, ignoring the increase in his heart beat's tempo.

The man grinned, a smirk that rivaled his own. "You're about to find out."

* * *

><p>AN: Oh yes, I went there. I'm putting everyone's favorite fire starter in quite a pickle.

Also, a look ahead: we have a reunion with the X-Men and most of the kids, and a violent altercation between two of the older X-Men.


	6. Chapter 6: a Bump in the Road

Chapter 6: A Bump in the Road

(Rogue)

Her exposure with Scott was brief, just a five-second grasp to shock him into stopping his concussion beam. His thoughts, his memories, and his emotions burst forth into her consciousness, and she experienced it all. His grief over losing Jean, his 'I-don't-care-about-anything-anymore' depression, and his past as a prisoner for that mutant-hater that assaulted the mansion just a couple months ago…it overwhelmed her, physically and emotionally.

Bobby moved the group forward and they ran into a frozen group of cops. Not frozen solid, frozen like the museum incident, like mimes. Extremely good mimes.

Some of Scott's pent up rage wanted her to kill one of the cops, but she was becoming more of herself again, thank goodness. She never wanted to feel that way again.

They bypassed the unmoving cops and went towards the front of the school, where they found Professor Xavier, Kitty, and Pete.

"We got a few of the kids out." Bobby informed as they stood by the team. Nobody mentioned the men Scott killed, and Storm and Logan came down the stairs with a group of nearly a dozen kids.

"Garage?" Logan suggested.

"You read my mind." the Professor said, smiling a little. Everyone hurried to the garage, simply moving around any frozen men they came across.

When they all entered the garage, they split up into seven cars, each driven by a member of the X-Men. They didn't need quite so many vehicles now, but once they found the other kids at the rendezvous, the extra space would be needed. Professor Xavier didn't drive a vehicle, but he did sit in a specialized wheelchair-accessible van, which was also large enough for almost half of the group of kids. The rest of the students split up into Bobby's and Kitty's vehicles of choice.

'_Follow us to the rendezvous_.' Xavier instructed as Storm started driving forward. Kitty followed suit, then Bobby, then Rogue, then Scott, then Pete, and finally, Logan brought up the rear of the parade.

They soon pulled over along the side of the road, covered by the forest canopy that seemed to surround Westchester.

'_Rogue, Logan, Scott, and Pete, please go on ahead. We'll remain here to stay with the children_.' Xavier telepathically requested.

She climbed out of the car, glancing at Bobby through his side mirror. She gave him a small smile and followed Pete, Scott, and Logan into the forest, headed for the memorized emergency-hiding-place; some abandoned cabin/shed hybrid near a pond. It had the essentials: four walls, a roof, food, and water.

The sun was still shining bright, even through the leafy tree-tops. Rogue was just grateful it wasn't the middle of winter…afraid they'd find half-frozen little bodies. It was a time like _that_ that John would've been useful. He was always radiating heat! He could live in Antarctica if he wanted with no shelter, without fear of freezing to death!

"You okay, kid?" Logan asked, suddenly beside her.

"Yeah." she replied, smiling a little as she looked away. He hardly called her 'Rogue'…always 'kid'.

"You sure?" he repeated, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'm sure." she said, stepping over a log.

"Because, you know, you can tell me anything." he said.

She stopped, watching Pete and Scott march on. "During the attack, I touched him. Scott. He's hurting more than he's letting on, Logan."

"What do you mean, he's suicidal? I know he's been pretty distant, but…" he started.

"No, he's not trying to kill himself. He's taking Professor…_Jean's_ death so hard." she said.

"Everyone is." he replied, his eyes softening.

"He's borderline obsessed about it." she said, glancing to where she had last seen Scott.

"Can you blame him? They were engaged." he said.

She sighed. "Can you, I don't know, talk to him later on? I don't think he'd listen to me."

Now it was his turn to sigh. He crossed his arms, but nodded. Definitely nodded.

"Thank you." she replied, and they left to catch up to the other X-Men.

* * *

><p>(Cyclops)<p>

He felt like he was on autopilot as they moved to the rendezvous. If a doe pranced out in a tutu, he'd barely notice. If a glob of bird shit hit his head, he'd barely notice. He was numb to the world at this moment, which he both loved and hated.

Soon the cabin was in view, and he felt his heart almost skip a beat, like it tried to be emotional, and gave up halfway. He started to feel…dare he think it? Yes. He felt a pang of relief. They were going to get the kids, and they were going to go somewhere safe. They…they didn't deserve to live in a world where their 'home' was nothing more than a crumbling shack.

The four of them entered the small building, finding the rest of the students huddled up in fear.

"Hey, it's okay." Rogue said, her voice soft and reassuring. "Come on, let's get out of here."

Her coax worked, and as the kids filed outside, Scott met her gaze, but quickly looked away. Just what _exactly_ did she see when she grabbed him at the school? What did she feel? He knew she was a little moody after the incident, he just didn't know what else was going through her head besides his residual emotions.

Pete and Rogue led the students away as he and Logan brought up the rear. The two adults were silent, but he could feel Logan glance at him every now and again.

"Something bothering you, Logan?" he asked, hating how everyone kept babying him and watching him even though he knew they were only trying to help.

"Rogue's worried about you." Logan answered.

'_Dammit_.' he thought. "Is she?" he asked, trying to sound surprised.

"She saw things. Felt things. She knows what you're going through." Logan said.

"So she tells _you_? Oh, why wouldn't she? She practically worships you." he said.

"Hey, this isn't about her. This is about you." Logan said.

He stopped, facing the older mutant. "I know you all think I'm some ticking time bomb, wondering when I'll go off. But you guys need to give it a rest. I'll move on…when I'm ready to move on."

Wolverine huffed, and glanced at the retreating students before looking back to Scott.

"We're all hurting, too. You weren't the only one who loved her."

When he said that, something clicked in Scott's head. That was it. _That was his limit_. In the blink of an eye, he adjusted his visor and fired, sending Wolverine into a giant tree.

Everyone up ahead stopped and stared as teacher attacked teacher.

"You think she loved you? She was gonna marry _me_, you son of a bitch!" he yelled at Logan's temporarily unconscious body. Colossus and Rogue cautiously advanced as Logan began to rouse, groaning.

"Watching you lust after her, it was pathetic. You only wanted her because you couldn't have her. Well are you happy now? Now none of us can have her because she's dead!" he screamed, tendons stretching in his neck. He could see genuine shock come over Logan's face, and it almost made him laugh out loud.

"Hey!" Colossus yelled, suddenly behind him.

He turned to face the younger X-Man. "What? I'm just letting loose. Blowing off steam. Isn't that what you all wanted? For me to move past her death? Newsflash, I'm trying! It's a slow process! Why can't you all just understand that?" he yelled, getting in the X-Man's face.

Pete barely even flinched at the outburst, but he leaned forward, ever so slightly. "You're scaring the children." he said in a husky voice.

"They should be scared!" he replied, waving one arm in their general direction. "We're all going to die soon anyway. Humanity is finally taking a stand against us, and we're not prepared!"

Logan whirled him around and punched him square in the jaw. The blow knocked him to the ground, onto his side.

"Are you finished?" Logan asked gruffly.

Scott looked around, seeing everyone's expressions. Fear, shock, confusion; it all hit him. He was supposed to be a leader, and here he was, picking a fight with a leader of equal potential. He was acting like a giant douche!

"I'm sorry." he apologized meekly as he looked up at Logan. "I didn't mean any of that."

"Yes you did. And it's okay. You're letting out those bottled up emotion. If that means frying my ass into a tree every now and again, then so be t." Logan said, offering his hand.

He took it and was pulled up. "And you? How are you dealing?" he asked.

"It was bad, but a chat with Storm really opened my eyes. I'm coping." Logan answered.

Pete moved away, back to the front with Rogue, and the group began moving again. They soon reached the line of cars and hit the road again. As they were driving, the drone of a helicopter announced itself. He glanced into his rearview mirror and saw two military helicopters, Boeing AH-64 Apaches to be precise, approaching fast.

* * *

><p>(Colossus)<p>

The group were still missing a few kids, so they were moving on to scour the surrounding area. He couldn't blame the youngsters for getting lost or forgetting the way to the meet-up spot. The fear-induced adrenaline could've messed up their sense of direction. It was pretty likely.

When he noticed the two helicopters behind their line of cars, his foot remained on the gas as he followed the cars in front of them, copying their turns and zig-zags down into a path into the forest. An explosion shook the earth and he glanced in his rearview mirror, seeing a fiery blast behind Wolverine's car.

'_They're using missiles_.' he realized, quickly scanning the faces of the four kids in the back seat, all of whom had their ears covered. The cars up ahead were slowing down and stopping, and he did the same. The helicopters passed overhead, unable to see them through the trees. Or perhaps, the Professor did some mental persuasion to move the pilots along.

Everyone abandoned their cars for the moment, joining up in a group. The kids were all murmuring to themselves, excited and terrified. Xavier, Storm, Wolverine, and Cyclops had a little pow-wow, while he, Kitty, Bobby, and Rogue tried their best to calm the kids down.

All the crying, and worry, it was only the tip of the iceberg for their problems.

* * *

><p>AN: next chapter, the search for the two missing kids continues, and the Brotherhood timeline merges with the X-Men timeline.


	7. Chapter 7: Location, Location, Location

Chapter 7: Location, Location, Location…

(Storm)

She looked back to the children as the younger X-Men tried to calm them down, starting to succeed.

"We're missing Jones and Theresa." she observed, turning a worried face to Xavier.

"They can't be too far. I should be able to locate them fairly quickly." Xavier said, closing his eyes. She clasped her hands together nervously as she watched hi concentrate. Confusion pinched at his face briefly before clarity washed it all away and his eyes opened. There was a pause as he took everything in.

"I was unable to pinpoint their exact location, but they are here, in the forest." he announced. Storm sighed in relief, her hands falling to her sides.

"I say we split up, cover more ground as we look." Scott said. She now looked at him, surprised by the leadership persona he seemed to now possess.

"I agree. Scott, you and Logan will head north. Storm, take Ms. Pryde with you and head west." Xavier said, pointing in the two directions. "And I'll stay tell Mr. Drake and Mr. Rasputin to head East. Rogue and I will stay here with the students."

She left and pulled Kitty aside, explaining the situation as Xavier did the same with the others. Scott and Logan wasted no time and had already left in their assigned direction. She and Kitty hurried along and went west; she hoped the two missing students would be found soon.

The bright afternoon sun started to dim as the evening neared. According to Kitty's phone, it was 4:48, nearly four and a half hours since the attack on the school! Which means Jones and Theresa had been missing for over three and a half (she assumed), and that the two of them had been walking for about three hours! The teacher and the student walked on some more, and Storm's stomach growled softly, sending them both into a giggling fit.

Kitty pulled two granola bars from her back pack and gave one to Storm as she opened her own.

"Thanks." Storm said, tearing a part of the foil away to take a bite.

"No problem, Professor Munroe." Kitty replied with a smile.

(Rogue)

"Can I ask you something, Professor? she asked, leaning on the hood of her chosen kids as the kids amused themselves nearby. It took a little encouraging to get them to feel safe enough to enjoy the distraction of almost-playing.

"You don't even have to ask to ask me, Rogue." I can sense a lot is on your mind." he answered, watching the kids like a protective parent.

"Can you…this is dumb, but…can you sense John? I mean, is he even still alive?" she asked, looking down at the ground.

The Professor looked over to her, a small smile pulling at the corner of his lips. "I try to check in on him every now and again. You and Bobby _were_ the only friends he had, and he thinks about the two of you often."

She smiled, relieved to know he was faring well even if he was with the enemy. "When he left," she started, standing straight, "did it hurt you?"

He maneuvered his wheelchair so he was facing her. "I've had students leave before, in the past, well before your time. Every one of them stung, but I never took it personally. The same applies to Mr. Allerdyce. He feels he's better off with Magneto, and I won't try to control him."

She nodded in understanding, only to frown and look up at the rapidly-darkening sky. Clouds were swarming and blanketing the sun, like an eclipse. She looked to the Professor, whose eyes were closed in an attempt to figure out what was happening. The children were gawking and pointing up at the cloudy sky, wondering what on earth was going on up there. A bolt of lightning suddenly touched down, striking in the area Storm and Kitty had gone.

"It's alright, they're okay. The lightning caused the men to retreat." Xavier informed.

The sky cleared, but it was still a little dark out.

"I hope they find them." she said, referring to Jones and Theresa.

"They will. From what I can tell, they have stopped moving, and are resting by a boulder." Xavier reassured. As they sat in silence, fireflies began to come out, exciting the younger students who gave chase and tried to catch them.

Rogue smiled to herself at the sight. This is what kids should be doing this time of year; trying to catch fireflies. Playing. Not hiding in the middle of nowhere to avoid being slaughtered.

(Kitty)

After the encounter with the soldiers, Storm decided it was best to return to Rogue and the Professor, and she didn't argue. They didn't have any leads on the missing students, but hopefully one of the other groups did. Maybe they were even found!

"I hope we get back before it's too dark to see." she mumbled to no one in particular.

"We still have about thirty minutes of daylight, don't worry. We'll regroup with the others with just enough time to watch the sun set." Storm said.

She slimed to herself, thinking about how much she loved sunsets. They're always so pretty, so…romantic.

In exactly twenty minutes, they returned to the group. Bobby and Pete had returned as well, but Scott and Logan were still gone. As Storm had predicted, they were all able to see a small part of the sunset between the woodsy forest foliage. Once it was dark out, the kids retired to the cars, feeling safer in the smaller space than out in the open.

The X-Men sat around a small fire, almost shoulder-to-shoulder, and Scott and Logan were still gone.

"When will it be safe to return to the school?" she asked, looking away from the fire.

"Not for a while. It's still surrounded." the Professor answered in his forever-calm tone.

"Scott and Logan should be back by now. I'm going to go look for them." Storm said as she stood up.

"No need. Right behind you." Wolverine, suddenly illuminated by the light of the fire, as was Scott.

"I lost track of their scent up by the river. Sniffed around for a good hour or so before we had to head back." the gruff mutant added. Everyone was quiet for a while, letting the intel sink in.

"Well, they're smart kids." Bobby said, breaking the silence. "They'll be okay."

Xavier suddenly stiffened, his eyes firmly shut. "They're with Magneto and his Brotherhood. They're taking them back to…back to the school!"

"They'll be heading into an ambush!" Storm realized.

"You have to warn them!" Rogue urged. The leader of the X-Men focused, determined.

"Magneto's helmet keeps me out, and Mystique and Pyro are somehow able to block me. I'll try Jones…" he said, concentrating. "That's impossible. I can't reach either of them. It's as if they're protected by the material in Magneto's helmet that keeps me out." he said, opening his eyes.

"Then we have to stop them! Kitty said, stating the obvious. Without another word, everyone hurried into their cars, leaving the forest at breakneck speed and unwillingly waking the sleeping students.

As they raced back to the last place they could possibly return to right now, Kitty kept mentally picturing a dozen possible outcomes, all resulting in death or imprisonment. The school became visible rather quickly, as all of its lights were on.

They all stopped a short distance away, their own lights off, staring at the line car in front of their home. She saw a small flash of light, followed by the sound of a gunshot, and Theresa's scream was heard from inside the car. Her breath caught in her throat, and she could barely make out the sight of three forms getting out of the car. Magneto, Mystique, and Pyro, she guessed. She saw some more small flashes of light, and one larger one, followed by an explosion. Her hands subconsciously shot to cover her mouth and the lone car sped away, passing them in the blink of an eye.

They all turned their cars around, following the Brotherhood car as it barreled down the road. Another helicopter came at them from ahead, but before it was in range to fire its weapons, it veered off course and crashed, most likely (if not definitely) due to Magneto.

The Brotherhood car soon pulled over, followed by the X-Men cars. Magneto and Mystique got out, and in the glare of their own car's headlights, she could see they were arguing.

A/N: Next to come: what to do regarding Pyro…the X-Men and Brotherhood have their own opinions.


	8. Chapter8 Rescue Mission, Suicide Mission

Chapter 8: Rescue Mission or Suicide Mission?

(Magneto)

Mystique pulled over and jumped out of the car. Knowing exactly what she was about to do, he followed her, grabbed her by the arm, and spun her so they were now facing each other.

"Let me go, Erik!" she yelled as he held her arms together.

"He's gone, my dear. Pyro's gone." he said, staring into her eyes. They showed anger, fear, and sadness; a combination never before seen in her.

"No, we can go back and get him. We shouldn't have left him. I… I shouldn't have left him!" she said desperately.

"You heard him, Mystique. He begged us to go. He cares more for us, more for _you_, than he does for himself." he said. She looked down and he lightly cupped her cheeks. "We'll get him back, I promise you. They stunned him, they didn't kill him. Now, he wanted us to get those kids to safety, and that's what we'll do. We'll find Charles and deliver them to him on a silver platter, then we'll get Pyro back."

He could tell she was frustrated, conflicted, and a dozen other synonyms with that, but she understood.

"The silver platter really isn't necessary." Charles' voice spoke. He looked towards the sound, spotting his friend by the first car in a line of cars. The rest of the X-Men exited their vehicles and approached slowly…not cautiously, just…with less speed.

"Oh, Charles. Good to see you're okay, old friend." he said, smiling. The two youngsters left the Brotherhood's car, squealing with joy as they ran to their teachers and mentors. As Rogue led them away, he and Mystique looked back to the lit-up school in the far distance.

"Alright, kids are delivered, let's go." Mystique said, opening the driver's side door.

"How are you gonna find him?" Wolverine asked.

"We have our ways." he replied, looking to Mystique.

"How? We don't know where he is. You don't know where he is. We don't know their security measures, or even _why_ he was taken." Wolverine countered.

Mystique laughed, causing everyone to stare at her. "Oh, please! If this was one of your precious students, you'd try to find them with everything you had in you." she remarked.

Erik couldn't help but think '_she's not wrong_' as Charles wheeled closer.

"He _was_ one of my students, and we will help you get him back."

"Thank you." he said with a nod.

"Come on, guys, think about this for a minute! He could be dead!" Wolverine said.

"He's not! Don't you ever say that in my presence again!" Mystique spat, slamming the open car door shut.

Charles watched her, concerned. "You love him." he concluded, sounding like he was both asking and stating a comment. Rogue, who had returned moments earlier, decided now was an appropriate time to speak up.

"John was our friend, too, Logan. And Mystique's right, if one of us was taken, we'd do everything we could to find them." she said.

"I'm just wondering if going after him would be smart, or a kamikaze attack." Wolverine said, arms crossed.

"Whether we help you or not, we have to get out of here. It's too open." Storm advised.

"I have the answer, my dear. Follow us." Magneto said, returning to the car.

Mystique drove again, leading the way to their lair at a fast speed. After parking in their usual spot, they hid the eight cars as best as they could, and began the mini-hike to their hidden underground entrance.

The moon was still bright enough to let them see where they were going.

"So, where are we going?" Rogue asked as they continued through the dark forest.

"If you must know, we're taking you to what _we_ call 'home'." Mystique answered. She was still angry, he could tell by her voice. Maybe he deserved it. He currently wasn't romantically involved with anyone, certainly not his youngest recruit. So what good was his advice to a woman who wanted nothing more than to get her man back? He knew exactly what good it was. He had saved Mystique from getting captured, even killed, if she had left.

'_Pyro will be grateful_.' he thought as they arrived at their front door. Mystique cleared some leaves away from the handles and opened the door.

"It'll be a little cramped, but no one knows about this place." he said, allowing the X-Men to enter first.

"Now, when you say 'no one knows about this place'…" Cyclops trailed off.

"I mean just that. Mystique and I constructed this place years ago. No humans have been this far out in the forest for years before that. Mystique, Pyro, and myself are the only ones who know about this place, besides yourselves now." he said, weaving through the sea of bodies.

Storm and Rogue led the half-asleep kids away to, well, sleep as the others gathered to talk about humanity's uprising.

* * *

><p>(Xavier)<p>

Ever since he was informed about Pyro's capture, he had tried to sense where the boy was. No luck, as of yet, but he kept trying. Even if he was now a traitor to many of the school's occupants, he didn't think death was the outcome anyone would want for him. Look at Erik and he; they've had the chance to kill each other 100 times over, but they couldn't do it. Not just because they were still friends deep deep down…because death would only bring war.

"So, what's our play?" Bobby asked.

"There isn't really much we can do until we find a way to resolve the issue between humans and mutants." Xavier said.

"What, another truce? I don't think that's an option." Logan said.

"I figured as much, too." he agreed, thinking.

Storm and Rogue returned, looking relieved and tense. "The kids are sleeping. Most of them, anyway." Rogue reported, standing next to Bobby.

"There's got to be some way we can get them to stop. They can't kill all of us!" Kitty chimed in.

"What if we try talking to the President again?" Storm suggested.

"The Whitehouse is probably a fortress right now; and even if we could get in, he wouldn't listen to us." Scott said. Xavier was glad Scott seemed to be moving on, taking more of an active role, and trying to heal emotionally.

"So what are we supposed to do? Hide down here forever? We can't live like that!" Rogue argued.

"Yeah, we need to make a stand." Bobby agreed.

"Easy, guys. We ned to be smart." Scott advised.

"No, Bobby's right. Pyro needs us, we can't abandon him." Mystique spoke up.

"No one is abandoning him." Erik said to her.

"Look, right now, Pyro isn't our main concern." Logan said.

"He is for us!" Mystique countered loudly.

"I've been trying to locate him, but it's difficult. He's no longer mentally blocking me, but for some reason, I cannot pinpoint his location accurately. If I could get to Cerebro, I might have better luck." Xavier said.

"Well that's not an option. We'll put Pyro on the back burner. For now." Scott said, quickly adding the last part so his enemies wouldn't yell at him. Mystique stormed off, followed by Erik, who looked both concerned and helpless.

"Professor, we have to do _something_. Not just for John, but for all of us. If this really is the end, we can't fight it from the shadows." Bobby said, gripping Rogue's hand.

It was times like these he hated being the boss. Their backs were against the wall and everyone looked to him for help, but he didn't know how to help in this situation. They couldn't exterminate the human race to ensure their own survival, that was out of the question…but they couldn't sit idly by while others of their kind were being wiped off the face of the earth. He was caught between a rock and an impossibly hard place as his team looked to him for an answer.

He mentally weighed his options, listing the pros and cons of each decision as he ignored the prying eyes that were boring into him. Finally, he looked up, hoping he chose the plan with the lowest body count.

"Scott, will you please get Erik and Mystique? We're going to reason with the President…by force, if we must." he announced, seeing mixed emotions among the faces of his X-Men.

First things first, though, they had to get their jet…

* * *

><p>AN: Up next, we get a look into the hell Pyro's been going through at the mercy of his ruthless 'interrogator'.


	9. Chapter 9: Violations

**A/N** (PLEASE READ): This chapter contains male/male rape. If you do not wish to read, asterisk one (*1) will point out where it starts, and asterisk two (*2) will point out where it ends. Both will be bolded to see easier.

Chapter 9: Violations

When his eyes opened again, he found himself still unable to move much, only to find that this time it was due to restraints, not drugs. Handcuffs, to be precise.

Sitting across the table from him was some guy in a suit, and at every corner of the room was a soldier holding a big-ass gun.

"Let's get this started, shall we?" the man asked, straightening up as Pyro became more alert.

"What the fuck is this?" Pyro asked, ignoring the increase in his heart beat's tempo.

The man grinned, a smirk that rivaled his own. "You're about to find out."

He straightened up and placed a rolled up black cloth on the table. Pyro glanced nervously at the armed guards that resembled statues before returning his gaze to the unfurling fabric. Various torture implements were tucked into pockets and held in place by straps. The young mutant laughed nervously, a discharge of his fear.

"What, you're gonna torture me? Go ahead. I lived with pain as a kid…parents were constantly drunk and would entertain themselves by using me as their personal punching bag, see which one would make me break first. So, whatever you're gonna do to me, it won't compare." he said, unable to look the man in the eye.

The man set down an ominous-looking syringe and other instruments for inflicting pain, and Pyro hoped a blow torch would appear soon.

"You are my seventh patient today, Pyro. I know all about you and your curse. No fire torture for you, my friend." the man said, lightly tapping various blades, as if deciding which one to use first. "Your human name is John Allerdyce. You're eighteen years old, and you're a follower of Magneto." he continued as he picked up a switchblade, lightly running his finger down the blade. "And you're correct. The pain I'm about to inflict on you won't compare to some punches by a couple of drunkards. It'll be unfathomable."

Pyro stifled a moan as the man put the cold blade against his arm, creating a long, shallow cut down his forearm.

After a couple winces, Pyro looked up at his torturer…a fucking human. "Go ahead, hurt me some more. I'm not telling you shit." he said, spitting at the man's feet. In an instant, the guy grabbed a fistful of Pyro's hair and snapped his head back, cutting his neck.

"Ow! Son of a…" Pyro started.

"Shh shh shhhhh. Any deeper, and I would've severed your carotid artery, and you'd have bled out in mere minutes. Now, I've got all night, so you can do this very painfully, or moderately painfully." the torturer said, releasing his grip.

"What, no painless ways to go about this? Or is that not an option now, since you did cut me twice already?" Pyro asked, smirking.

"Well aren't you a little smart ass." the man said.

"So I've been called. Like I said before, Mr. Mean Torturer, I'm not telling you anything, so you better figure something out before I shove that blade down your throat." he threatened, wishing his heart wasn't pounding in his ears.

"We're only just getting to know each other, why the harsh threats? And you can call me James, unless you prefer Mr. Mean Torturer. So impersonal…So, now that we're properly introduced, let's continue, shall we?" James asked, slicing Pyro's left arm again; grinning at the pleasure he felt in making a mutant pig squeal.

"Cut me all you want. I'll never betray my friends." Pyro declared, shaking off the pain.

"There's only two ways this can end. Either you tell me where the Brotherhood is hiding, or you die." James said.

"No. They'll find me, and then I'll teach you a thing or two about pain." he said, trying to reassure himself.

James laughed, putting the switchblade in a bowl of alcohol, which slightly mesmerized Pyro as the water turned reddish-pink.

"There's no way you even _can_ be found. Not only is this place underground, but it's outfitted with mutant sensors, trip wires, alarms, not to mention there are armed guards every two feet. Your buddies get anywhere near here, they're as good as gone." James said as he picked up a hammer and a can of nails.

Pyro saw the almost euphoric pleasure in the man's brown eyes, and he gulped nervously. Very gingerly, a nail was positioned in the middle of his right wrist. "This will hurt." James whispered into his ear. Pyro didn't see it, but he could practically hear the smile on his lips.

The only thing Pyro could do was watch as the hammer rose and fell, driving the nail through skin and ligaments and nerves. He squeezed his eyes shut and screamed at the impact, reflexively rocking back and forth, which only succeeded to jar his wrist even more. He tried using sheer will power to make the radiating pain stop, and flinched (pathetically) as another nail was place on his arm, only an inch or so higher.

"Go on, do it!" he spat, panting. The hammer swung down, penetrating his arm with another nail. Pyro cried out, swearing under and over his breath as another nail was placed on his arm.

"Where is the Brotherhood? Where are you hiding?" James asked, raising the hammer.

"Your mom's house!" Pyro blurted, breathing hard. "She was on her knees, handing out blowjobs to us like candy!" he said, smiling through his pain. James swung down much harder than before, instantly bruising the skin around the next nail.

"Struck a nerve, good to know." he panted once the pain started to die a fraction.

"Tell me where they are." James ordered, oblivious to the blood specks on his face and glasses.

"What, you can't find them by yourselves? I thought humanity was wiping us out. You-you should be able to track all of us down, r-right?" he asked, swallowing the nausea he felt working its way up. James set the hammer down and calmly faced him.

"You'd think we'd have the resources to do that, right? The truth is, there's just too many of you. Like cockroaches. Not to mention there's thousands of you with dormant abilities, they need to be killed too. It's taken years of research and development, but we've finally found a way to screen people and detect the X-Gene before it manifests someone's curse. Hard to believe that one tiny segment of one of our sixty-four chromosomes is the determining factor." James explained, picking up another nail.

Pyro barely noticed the action as he took all that information in. The impact, however, was without a doubt noticed. Grunting in pain, a bizarre thought came to him as he looked at the nail heads imbedded in his arm: he could play connect the dots with the scars that would form!

* * *

><p>After three more nails and a refusal to say a single word, James ended the session, promising the worst was yet to come. As Pyro was taken out of the room, with a bag over his head, he couldn't help but think how cheesy those words sounded…so, cliché.<p>

The guards held no regards to his well-being, roughing him up as they dragged him away. He was kicked and his arms were twisted to maximize the bleeding on his arms. Eventually, they stopped, and he was thrown into a dingy cell. The bag fell off his head, and he had two seconds to look around before the door was closed, sealing him in pure darkness. From what he could gather from those two seconds, the room was small, and it smelled moldy. As he felt his way around the room's dimensions, he heard a low growl. He probably pissed his pants, but his body was in so much pain that if he did, he didn't notice.

He jumped as something grabbed his nail-decorated arm, and yanked it, causing him to yell in pain, and maybe only ten percent fear. He stupidly try to break free from the slimy grip, which only lessened his pain tolerance to the point that his blood pumping to his arm hurt like bitch.

"Fresh meat." a voice rasped. It was hoarse, and definitely male…and it made Pyro stiffen instantly. "Don't struggle, and it'll be quick." the voice added, tearing his shirt up the middle some.

**-*1-**

Pyro instinctively tried to push away, but putting even half an ounce of pressure on his arms practically made him pass out, and the dehydration wasn't much help either.

"Mmm, a fighter. Rougher is always better." his cellmate declared, pushing Pyro up against the wall. He winced, his bruised skin stinging at the impact. A wet, thickly slimy hand traced his navel, making Pyro shudder in disgust - which only elicited a chuckle from his attacker. "It's been a while for me…got big plans for you." the ominous voice whispered as cold hands traveled up Pyro's torso.

"No! No!" Pyro yelled, kicking out. His foot connected with something slightly squishy, and the other man (if he could even call him that) growled. He kicked again, harder, but he still couldn't get free from the iron grip pinning his arms above him.

"Get the hell off me, you sick bastard!" he screamed, trying to squirm away to his right. A snarl of disdain came out of his attacker, and he was punched in the nose, freeing a well of blood to gush out. "Let go!" he yelled, whimpering.

"You got no place to run, little boy." his cellmate whispered in his ear, pressing their bodies together. Again, Pyro grimaced and tried to squirm away, which only excited his perverted cell mate. "Haven't you ever been…curious?"

Hell no, he had never been curious! He couldn't voice that, however, once one slimy hand started to undo his pants. "Please don't do this…" he said, his voice barely able to go above a whisper.

"You'll love this, don't worry." the voice said as his pants and underwear were pulled down.

"No…" he moaned, starting to feel lightheaded from his nosebleed. "please stop…"

"I'll stop once I make you MINE." the voice rasped as a slimy hand latched onto his manhood. Pyro gasped, squeezing his eyes shut. The same slimy hand started to rub him, and his mind repeated the same words on a loop: _this is so wrong_.

"Stop, stop, stop, stop…" he pleaded, unashamed as a tear fell from his eye. The…_thing_…refused to listen, and he felt himself start to harden down there.

"See?" his cellmate asked, chuckling lightly. "You _do_ enjoy this."

"I don't. I don't!" he yelled as his body was rubbed down some more. He lashed out again, kicking in every direction possible; hitting something 'solid' only twice – each time his attacker grunted in annoyance. Not pain.

The adrenaline was only making him harder, and he could feel it twitching, alone, as his body was pushed down so he was on his knees.

"Now for the fun part."

That was all the warning Pyro had before his body was penetrated. He immediately clenched in pain and yelled, clenching his hands onto fists no matter how much the tightening tendons made his arms scream.

And then the thrusting started, sending waves of disgust and pain throughout his body. Each groan of pleasure from the animal behind him made Pyro want to vomit. He was feeling himself start to tear, and he screamed curses as he straightened up, trying to pull free.

"Not yet…I'm not…quite done." was all his attacker said between grunts as he wrapped his arms around Pyro's chest, binding their bodies together.

"Stop! STOP! Let me go! Please!"

But he didn't stop, not until he completely fulfilled his urge and left his mark inside Pyro. When it was finally over, and he was released, Pyro crawled away; as far as the walls would allow. His very soul shuddered with him as he cried, beaten and bloody, disgusted and humiliated.

"Save your strength." the gooey mutant growled at Pyro. "You're mine all night."

Pyro said nothing, only continued to try and mentally retreat, but reality kept sucking him back; back into the pain and fear.

**-*2-**

_Day Two_

After a sleepless night, he was taken back to the interrogation room and handcuffed to a now-clean chair. James stepped forward, bearing a big, sit-eating grin.

"So, how was your night?" the torturer asked, observing the hell Pyro's body had gone through. "I slept like a baby, myself. Tell me, Pyro, did you like meeting your cellmate? We call him Creature, but, you see, his human name is John, too. Funny how things like that work out." James said, smiling as he laid out his tools again.

Pyro stared at the ground, still reeling from the previous night's hell.

"My sixty-two year old mother's blow job is looking pretty good now, isn't it?" James asked, cracking his knuckles as he stood. His fingers wrapped around an ice pick, the next tool in his handy-dandy-interrogation-persuasion-roster.

He looked over the freak's body, loving the multi-colored bruises, and the scratches, and the dried blood, and the infected-looking nail heads along his arm.

"Looks like your new pal gave you one hell of a nose job." he continued, circling behind Pyro, who remained quiet.

"No witty comeback? My, my, my…Creature really took the fight out of you." he said, tapping Pyro's cut arm with the tip of the ice pick. Watching the boy flinch at the touch was amusing. Hell, it was downright hilarious!

He circled back to the front, stooping down to the mutant's eye level. "Tell me, how many times did he rape you last night? Once? Five times?"

Pyro looked away, the word 'uncomfortable' written all across his body, spoken from his body language.

"Creature, he'll screw anything that has a pulse. Since his last cell buddy was killed four days ago, he's been pretty wild. I bet he unloaded on you. All. Night. Long." he said, tapping Pyro's shoulders in sync with the last three words.

Pyro looked up, finally meeting his gaze. "Why do you wanna know? Do the details get you off?"

James laughed, enraging Pyro. He thrust his head forward, and head butted the man who mocked him. A guard moved forward, but James held up a hand to stop him. With a growl, James spat fresh blood onto his dirty shirt, but Pyro couldn't care less. Right now, he didn't even care about living, or getting tortured, or being rescued. If James was telling the truth about this place, he knew the chances of him making it out alive were slim to none.

"Okay then, bleeding lip aside, let's begin." James said, thrusting the ice pick into Pyro's shoulder without a care in the world.

This pain was worse than the nails, that much was certain as his scream's volume increased. The sound soon died out, only to be replaced by a different cry as the weapon was pulled out. With little warning, he emptied his stomach contents onto the floor and he gagged repeatedly before he was forced to look at the bloody tool, one of James' strong hands holding his head, the other holding the ice pick dangerously close to his wide, unblinking eyes.

"All you have to do to make this stop is to tell me where your friends are. Where is the Brotherhood?" James asked, cupping Pyro's chin in the palm of his hand.

"Kiss…my…ass…" he replied, staring defiantly into the human's eyes. He'd remain loyal to the brotherhood until death. The X-Men to, if it came to that.

"Kiss it? I bet Creature did that last night, too." James said before slowly pushing the tool into Pyro's side. Pyro let out a moan as he uselessly kicked against his ankle restraints, fighting the urge to pass out.

"You look a little sick there, Pyro." his torturer observed, motioning to the door. A guard obediently left; where to, he couldn't even begin to guess. He tried blinking away the fuzzy dots and swirling colors, but they stubbornly floated around his vision. James slapped him, dispersing the hazy vision for a few seconds. "You're not done until I say you are." the man scolded. Pyro breathed rapidly momentarily, his left cheek stinging. The door opened, and the guard returned with a small cup, which he held to Pyro's lips. "Drink." he ordered.

Pyro glanced down at the liquid, surprised to see it was plain old water, and gratefully swallowed it down in one big gulp. The cooling sensation running down his throat felt so much like heaven that he almost laughed. His vision started to sharpen as the guard moved away, tossing the paper cup at his head. He would've glared, but in all honesty, he didn't have the energy.

"Alrighty then," James began, holding the icepick in reverse, "Let's get a move on." he continued, tapping the blunt handle onto the nails in his arm like a xylophone. Each impact made him wince, as the taps were only half strength. James then flipped the ice pick into the air and caught it by the handle, then brought it down into is other side in one fell swoop. Pain radiated down to his pelvis, and up into his ribcage as he tried to rock away the pain. He only succeeded in failing to lessen the pain.

The weapon was then buried into his thigh, spilling even more blood onto the floor beneath him.

"Let's move on to something else, what do you say?" James suggested, leaving the ice pick in his leg as he went to grab a pair of creepily-shiny pliers.

"Don't worry. Your fingernails will grow back in time, if you live that long." James commented as he clamped the pliers onto Pyro's left pinky. Both of their hearts started racing, and both from adrenaline; but one was due to fear, and the other was due to an unhealthy level of sick excitement.

Pyro started to whimper softly as he felt a tug on his finger, but no pain - the bastard was psyching him out!

"Just do it!" he cried, his bottom lip quivering. "Go on, get it over with! I won't tell you anything!" he finished, his eyes remaining focused on his partial reflection in the pliers.

James chuckled, looking at the guards with a look that said 'can you believe this guy?' and in a flash, the nail was ripped from the cuticle. Again, Pyro screamed. God, he was so sick of screaming and pain and the smell of his own blood. His clothes were soaked through with the thick, red substance, along with half a gallon of sweat, and a couple tears.

Another flash of pain seared through him after his ring fingernail was torn loose, and for the briefest moment, he considered telling James everything, just to make the pain stop.

"See? Didn't I tell you today was going to be worse, hmm?" the piece of human filth asked. The look on his face made Pyro immediately disregard his split-second wish to tell the guy what he wanted to know. How in the world could he hand his comrades, his fucking girlfriend over to him?

"Go to hell." the mutant scowled. James dug a finger into the stab wound on his right side, the pain almost making him pass out right then and there.

"That's where you and everyone like you belongs, boy." the man hissed, shaking from the amount of force he was using to stick his finger in the stab wound. "And when I'm done with you, I'll send you there in a heartbeat."

Pyro swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing, stuck on the growing lump in his throat.

The man put on his best evil grin, and although he'd never admit it, it made Pyro want to shit a brick. "But perhaps I'll let Creature have his way with you for a final go round before I do that. Who knows, you may even beg me to let him keep using you."

Those words echoed in his head throughout the rest of his torture, through the electric shocks, through the punches, through it all. And when the session ended, he was thrown back into the damp cell, where the same goo covered hands groped him, and played with his injuries, and jerked him off while his ass was on the receiving end of the self-lubricating cock.

And the vicious cycle repeated. All. Night. Long.

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry for the incredibly long wait, you guys and gals! I'm painting a house for a friend, and it's taking up a lot of time.

A/N 2: Up next, the X-Men and Brotherhood negotiate with the President.


	10. Chapter 10: Capitol City

Chapter 10: Capital City

(Bobby)

After the plan was arranged, they were allowed to rest until dawn, which was in a little less than 3 hours. Many, including him, took the opportunity to sleep, but the blissful rest passed by all too quickly. Pete had found the Brotherhood's coffee maker, and after a portion of time, pots of coffee were swallowed to caffeinate themselves. Bobby was halfway done with his second cup (which was actually a bowl) when the Professor went over the plan to get to the Blackbird again. "Once we get near the school, we'll leave the cars and continue on foot. I will freeze the soldiers so we can get to the jet undetected, and without incident. Rogue has agreed to remain here with the children while we're gone."

Bobby turned to Rogue, who gave him a small smile, and a big hug. "Be careful out there."

"Yeah, you too." he said, rubbing her shoulders as he broke the hug. After a quick, non-lethal peck on the lips, the underground lair was partially emptied as the X-Men and Brotherhood marched out. The Brotherhood lead the way to the cars, uncovering their personal one and getting inside. Bobby, Pete, and Kitty went into another, while the teachers piled into the specialized one.

As he drove, Bobby could almost hear the silence filling the car, and he kind of liked it. Compared to the night's previous gunfire and explosions, dead silence was quite enjoyable. After about twenty minutes of driving, they pulled over and continued to their home on foot. Mystique and Magneto murmured quietly to each other along the way, but no one else said a word. They just wanted this to be over, back to the way it was before.

The school was soon within sight and they gathered near a cluster of trees and bushes.

"This should only take a moment." the Professor announced, closing his eyes. After a couple seconds, they reopened. "Alright, it's safe now."

"Are you sure they're, you know, frozen?" Bobby asked. Everyone looked at him. "Sorry! I don't want to get shot!" he defended, blushing.

"You have my word, Bobby." Xavier said, leading the way. Sure enough, as they got closer to the school, n soldiers reacted to their presence. They slipped inside undetected, and hurried to the elevator, and after a short descent, reached the lower levels. After a short walk down a hall, the jet loomed over them.

Storm and Cyclops were the pilot and copilot, respectively, and the others buckled into the passenger seats. After a few pushed buttons and flipped switches, the jet was airborne and vanished from sight as the stealth mode was activated.

"Can someone please tell me why we couldn't use Cerebro? We walked _right_ past it." Mystique said, her arms crossed.

"If we had, the Professor's mental paralyzation would have worn off and we'd have been made. Just…relax, okay?" Logan replied, actually sounding a little comforting at the end. She sighed, worried for her…boyfriend.

'_Wow. John is somebody's boyfriend. Sounds so weird_.' Bobby thought, smiling to himself

Aside from the occasional chit-chat, the flight wasn't very talkative and Bobby stared out the window, thinking about what might happen if things didn't go as planned.

Almost an hour passed before they landed in D.C.

"Alright, so what now?" Kitty asked as everyone undid their seatbelts and stood, eager and uneasy.

"Now we convince the President to let us all live." Magneto said, sounding tired. The jet remained cloaked as everyone left, making mental reminders of its location. When the time was right, Xavier again froze everyone nearby and they walked through the front doors right under everyone's noses. An alarm blared as they entered. "Mutant sensors." Cyclops realized. Logan cut through the alarm's control box, silencing it. After a stern glance from Xavier, Storm, and Scott, they continued on and located the President's office. Locking the door behind them, Xavier closed his eyes and the President's mime-time passed.

"-get it finished." McKenna said, his finger on the intercom. He looked up, startled at the sudden appearance of mutant occupants.

"Greetings, President McKenna. I believe you know why we're here." Xavier said.

The President pressed a button. "Security!"

"Yeah, they won't come." Logan informed.

"Look, I didn't want this, but your kind started this. Hell, I was glad we had a truce." McKenna defended.

"Our kind? If you wanted a truce, how can you still refer to us as if we're aliens?" Storm asked, taking a step forward.

"I was almost killed! People wanted answers, they…they wanted blood! I had to do something to appease them!" he said, slamming a fist on his desk.

"So you went with genocide? I guess this makes you the new Hitler." Magneto mused, an uncomfortable look on his face.

"People still harbor a lot of fear towards mutants. Half of the population takes extra precaution to make sue their kids are safe! We're talking protests at known mutant residencies, cross burnings, all non-lethal, but effective. And legal. We're trying to coexist, but people are scared. Everyone turns to me in a time of crisis, and I made a decision. And as it turns out, people have been preparing for this. Bomb shelters, mass gun storage, even scientists working towards ways to screen someone's blood to detect the X-gene." the President explained, looking to each mutant in the room.

"So you're saying people didn't care about the truce?" Bobby asked.

McKenna sighed. "No, not really. Whether a mutant killed a human, or vice versa, the truce would've broken eventually. We just can't live without war."

"You're the fucking President! Can't you say some safe word and end this? We're…we're talking about extermination, here!" Scott blew up.

Gulping nervously, the President stood, leaning against his desk. "By the time word spreads about a cease-fire, it wouldn't matter. Too much is happening. People don't care anymore. Schools are closing, police are working around the clock, we're even detaining mutants for questioning, but I'm trying to spare them!"

"The ones you capture, what happens to them?" Mystique asked, narrowing her eyes.

"They're…" the President glanced around at the mutants. "They're transported to the closest base, and interrogated." he continued.

"Interrogated?" Scott asked.

"For information; locations on other mutants, the level of threat they pose." McKenna replied.

"So you don't kill them?" Bobby asked.

"Not unless they won't cooperate. Those that do, we keep for future usefulness." the President answered.

Xavier tilted his head to the side slightly. "You really wanted this truce to last." he realized.

"I really did." McKenna said, nodding. "I didn't want to start a war."

'_And yet you did_.' Bobby thought, wanting to hate the man, but finding himself unable to.

"Is there anything you can do to stop this? Please, innocent lives are dependent on it." Storm pleaded.

"The Operation has already begun. It's in motion, there is no stopping it. My suggestion to survive this is to move out of the country. Most of Europe is very pro-mutant." the President declared, looking helpless.

"That's your answer? Run and hide?" Logan asked disbelievingly.

"I'm sorry. I can try to close Pandora's box, but I can't guarantee it'll be secured." the man replied, sitting back down. "You have my allegiance. You always have."

Only one or two of them believed the President fully. The rest either didn't, or only did to some extent.

* * *

><p>AN: Coming up: a plan to rescue Pyro doesn't go as planned, and Mr. XYZ's identity is revealed.


	11. Chapter 11: Pandora's Box

Chapter 11: Pandora's Box

(Wolverine)

With their Presidential alliance (maybe?) confirmed, and (maybe?) strengthened, the mutants returned to the jet, ready to head back to New York. President McKenna's promise of an empty school to return to was unbroken when they scanned it, and saw no present heat signatures or foreign instruments inside. No traps, no helicopters, no trace evidence of the attack…besides the smell, and the wrecked interior of their home. After they landed the jet, Xavier tasked Storm and Bobby with bringing Rogue and the children back.

"You really think it's safe to bring them back here?" he asked their leader.

The Professor turned his wheelchair to face him. "Hope is a bad thing to lose, Logan." he said, turning again to enter Cerebro.

'_So is common sense. This could be a trap_.' he thought.

"If this were a trap, our scans would have picked something up." Xavier said as the doors slid open.

"What are you doing?" he asked, watching after him.

"_I promised Erik we'd help him get Pyro back, didn't I_?" Xavier's voice softly echoed in his mind. And with that, the doors closed. Everyone except the Brotherhood went upstairs, so he stayed as well to keep an eye out.

By the time Cerebro reopened, Wolverine was about ready to leave due to the boring silence.

"Charles…" Magneto began.

"Did you find him?" Mystique interrupted.

" 'Course he did. The guy pinpointed that blue teleporter a couple months back. Pretty sure a stationary mutant is a piece of cake." he cut in, wishing he had a cigar to smoke down there. But Xavier wouldn't allow it, no sir.

"It took a while, but I did locate his coordinates. He's underground." Xavier announced.

"Underground?" Wolverine repeated. That was unexpected.

"But he's alive?" Mystique asked.

"He's in pain, but yes, he is alive." Xavier reassured. The Brotherhood mutants both breathed a sigh of relief, but still looked worried for their…protégé.

"What kind of pain?" Mystique asked uncertainly.

"What do you think? Torture." he replied, cutting off the Professor as his mouth opened.

"Send the coordinates to your jet. We'll be using it to go after him." Magneto said, he and Mystique beginning to leave.

"I already have!" Xavier called, then turned to Wolverine. "Logan, go with them. Make sure they don't get into any…trouble. And do be careful."

Wolverine half-smiled as he looked at the Brotherhood duo. "Them? Get into trouble? Never!" he said, feigning shock as he placed a hand on his chest.

"We'll be fine, don't worry." he said, regaining his composure. He headed over into the jet, rolling his eyes when he saw Mystique in the pilot seat.

"No way, Mystique, move over. I'm flying this bird." he said as he weaved through the rows of seats. Now it was her turn to roll her eyes, but she moved over into the co-pilot seat as he got close. He punched the coordinates into the navigation system and as the machine started up, he buckled his seat belt. They quickly gained altitude, breaching ground level in seconds.

"These coordinates…they're in Manhattan." Mystique observed.

"Hard part will be getting into this underground detainment facility." he said, turning on the cloaking device.

"No, that'll be the fun part." she said, the corner of her mouth rising in a smirk.

He looked at her, a realization dawning on him. "You know what? When the Professor said you and Pyro were together, I thought it was the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard, and I've heard a lot of ridiculous things. But now, I can see it." he said.

"Really." she said, almost flatly.

"Yeah, really. I mean, you got the same smirks, and that cocky eyebrow is like a mirror of his. If you weren't a…blue, naked chick, you two could be twins." he rambled, getting a little exaggerated at the end.

"As borderline incestuous as that sounds, I'm gonna take it as a compliment." she replied, the different tones in her voice all hinting at an almost-chuckle.

"You should." he said, flipping a switch here and there. "Listen…" he started, fumbling on how he was gonna word this out. She just looked at him, waiting for him to 'spit it out'.

"If we weren't facing extinction, and you guys weren't our arch enemies…I'd, I'd actually be having a pretty good time right now." he managed, knowing he sounded like an idiot.

"So, you're just having a _good_ time, is that it?" Mystique asked, not trying to make it awkward, but kind of did.

"Sure, let's say that." he said, turning away from her still-creepy-as-hell yellow eyes. That's something he'd have to ask Pyro: how could he have sex with her and not have nightmares about those reptilian eyes. When she came on to him in that tent all those months back, turning from Jean to Storm to Rogue, he couldn't look any of them in the eye for a while after the incident.

The flight was considerably shorter than their previous one, as they arrived in Manhattan in less than half the time.

" 'Kay, so here's the plan." Wolverine began, standing after landing the jet. "Mystique and I will head to the coordinates and bring the kid back."

"And why can't I…" Magneto began, also standing.

"You're like the most wanted mutant in the U.S., and besides, your outfit would draw way too much attention." he interrupted, dismissing Magneto with the wave of a hand.

Magneto glanced down at his wardrobe. "Would you prefer I wear one of those horrendous black jumpsuits you X-Men wear?"

Wolverine grumbled, his good mood beginning to wear off. "Just stay put. The jet will remain cloaked. Don't sit in the pilot's seat, don't touch the controls, don't even scratch your nose." he said, lowering the ramp.

"For the record, I am against this plan." Magneto huffed, sitting down. Oh, how he would love to turn Manhattan upside down as its citizens curled away in fear. But in this case, discretion was more valuable…

Wolverine left the jet, waiting impatiently for Mystique as she spoke with her companion. After a minute, she joined Wolverine, posing as an amazingly gorgeous blonde.

"Woah." he blurted uncontrollably, probably looking like a love-struck teenager.

"If I may put something on the record, I'm glad you're not currently wearing that horrendous black jumpsuit." Mystique said, her eyes no longer giving him the creeps.

She put her hands on her hips and gave him a sly smile. "Stop drooling, and let's get a move on." she said, leading the way.

They left the park, posing as tourists as they walked down the city's busy streets. Wolverine glanced at his cell phone, where he had sent the coordinates to before leaving the jet, and he observed his surroundings in comparison to the map. He set it so that when they needed to go underground, it would vibrate, giving them a heads-up as to when to look for access to sewers and other possible underground hideouts.

They passed many cops and soldiers without a hitch in their steps, like many of the citizens who had gotten used to it.

"They really got this block under watch." he said, spying another soldier across the street.

"Maybe we're getting close." Mystique said.

Wolverine flipped open his phone and glanced at the screen. "We still have a while to go before we…hang on." he said, stopping abruptly.

"What is it?" she asked, turning around to face him.

"These coordinates are off, twenty degrees off. Something's screwing with the relay." he said, looking around.

"Something?" Mystique asked.

"We should in fact be close to the underground entrance. Look for a basement, or a manhole." he instructed.

"What, you want us to pop it open in the street in the middle of the day? Sorry, but I have another idea. Stay." she said, talking to him like a dog. She approached the last cop they passed, who smiled at her as she started talking to him. His attention was all over her body, and his smile widened as she led him into an alley. Wolverine followed, lagging behind a few steps and the cop remerged.

"This should come in handy." he said, looking down the alley. Wolverine looked, and spotted the cop she cloned behind a dumpster, unconscious and missing his uniform. He grunted in amusement and followed the newest identity of Mystique.

"This is your plan?" he asked as she grabbed the cop's walkie-talkie.

"Dispatch, this is Officer Shields, I have a mutant in custody, but, uh, I forgot where that base is." she said.

"We copy, Officer Shields, report back to the station, we'll take the mutie from there." the dispatch lady said.

"Roger that." Mystique replied, clipping the walkie-talkie back in its original position.

"Good work." Wolverine said, genuinely impressed.

Mystique took out the handcuffs and smiled. "Let's take you in."

Luckily, the station was within walking distance, so they didn't have to steal a car and add that to their rap sheet alongside infiltrating a government institution, and breaking out a known mutant terrorist. They walked inside the station, and were immediately approached by two other cops, both fit, blonde men.

"You know the drill, Shields. Rookie or no, you can never forget things like where to take a mutant, especially the dangerous ones. Follow Jones to fill out the paperwork, and I'll take him from here." the scruffier of the two said as he took Wolverine away by the arm.

Before long, Wolverine was dumped in a cell with another mutant.

"Sweet dreams, ladies." the cop sneered as he left.

"You stupid, unlucky bastard." his cellmate introduced, smiling to himself.

"You don't know the half of it, bub." he replied, sitting on the opposite end of the bench.

"So where you from?" the mutant asked.

"Why do you ask?" he asked, turning to face the room's only other occupant.

"Never seen you around Manhattan before, and I know every face in this city. You aren't local." the man explained.

Wolverine paused before answering, "Westchester." He looked the guy up and down and all around. There was something other than his pale complexion, and completely black eyes that was setting of his caution flag.

"So, Westchester, what brings you here?"

"Call me Logan." he said as he stood and started to pace the cell.

"Okay, Logan, so why are you in this neck of the woods?"

"What, I don't get your name?"

"Fine, then. I'm Mark. You might know me better as Mr. XYZ."

He definitely was not expecting that. "Wait, you're that shadowy prophet guy on TV?"

"The one and only." his cellmate said.

"Alright, Mark. I'm actually here with another mutant. We're looking for someone." he said, finally answering the previous inquiry.

"I see…" Mark said, nodding.

"Maybe you've seen him, he's about…" Wolverine began.

"Yes, I know who you're looking for. John Allerdyce, a.k.a.: Pyro. He arrived last night and was immediately bypassed into the little torture dungeon. He didn't even get to sit in this lovely cell and wait a week, like yours truly."

"Do you know where the base is, where they are?" he asked. Mark smiled at him, revealing his black fangs.

"Right beneath our feet." he answered, pointing at the floor with one finger.

* * *

><p>(Mystique)<p>

Once the mind-numbing paperwork was completed, she was allowed to leave the station and return to her 'original position' along the streets. Before she left, she saw Wolverine in the holding cells an flashed him her yellow eyes. Once she was outside, she circled around to the back, being extra careful not to be seen. This was almost too easy, getting the information she needed by playing the dumb rookie card. She knew how to get to the holding cells, she knew where Pyro was, she even knew the Chief was having an affair on his wife…with another man!

She easily picked the lock on the back door, and snuck inside, able to reach Wolverine's location without incident.

'_Places like this should have better security_.' she thought, standing before Wolverine and some other guy.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Wolverine hissed, looking around nervously.

"Couldn't leave you here to rot, could I? The base is under the station, that's where Pyro is. Damn cops should keep their lips locked." she said, glancing at the cell's other occupant.

"Keep a lookout, will you?" Wolverine asked, extending his claws.

"Oh, please allow me." she said, waving a ring of keys in his face. The claws vanished and she unlocked the cell. "Back exit's this way, let's go. We'll get Erik and do this our way." she said, leading them around to the back. As she turned a corner, the three mutants ran into a dozen armed cops, all weapons trained on them.

"Some rescue." the other mutant mumbled.

"You're not Officer Shields. Identify yourself, mutant." a cop ordered.

"Careful what you wish for." she said, quickly turning into her true form. The incoming Taser charges were dodged with ease and she jumped, kicking a man in the face. Wolverine joined the fight, slashing away like a butcher.

"Put this place on lockdown! We have an intrusion, Class 2!" a cop yelled. An alarm started wailing, but that didn't faze anyone. Mystique continued flipping and twirling and punching and kicking, soon realizing all twelve cops were incapacitated. "Come on!" she yelled, heading to the back door, but it was locked. She saw Erik outside, confidently striding towards them in full costume. She could hear yelling and shouting behind her, and regrouped with the mutants.

"Erik's outside." she said, glaring at the almost fearless cops ahead.

"Good to know, but let's show Mark here how we do things over in Westchester." Wolverine breathed, panting.

* * *

><p>(Magneto)<p>

He long grew bored of waiting in the jet, but managed to stay put for an amazingly long twenty minutes before he left. He had stayed out of sight, moving in the direction he saw Mystique and Wolverine go. He weaved through trees and bushes, accustomed to their scratchy feel from the woods he basically lived in. He wasn't sure where to go once he got to the intersection, but an alarm sounded nearby, and in his gut, he knew he had to follow the sound to find the others. Pyro was his recruit, and he was going to get him back. Mystique had long been his right hand, always loyal. And Wolverine…well, he kinda liked him, even if he was on Charles' team.

He followed the cops through the congested streets, no longer caring about being spotted, and even hoping for it. He wanted the humans to speak his name in fear. To cower like a whimpering child.

He saw the cops on the sidewalk head to the back of the building, and he followed, yanking their weapons out of their hands with his mind. He focused the weapons to each man's head, and they froze, screaming, and he pulled every trigger at once.

Moving as fast as his aging body would allow, he neared the back door and saw Mystique through the door's small window. A sigh of relief passed his lips and he jogged forward, grabbing the handle. It wouldn't open, so he tried to mentally rip the door from its hinges, but nothing happened_. Nothing happened_. He could only watch as Mystique and Wolverine were surrounded, along with a third mutant. He started banging a fist on the door, distracting only a couple cops, and the rest opened fire.

A bullet shattered the window he was looking through, and he ran. God help him, he ran. He knew it was cowardly, and he was leaving Pyro and Mystique behind, but in his mind, he wasn't concerned. For the moment, he only cared for his own safety. All he knew was that he had almost died back here, and it scared him more than anything. He couldn't redirect the bullet's trajectory as it flew towards him, he couldn't tear the door off its foundation…what was that about?

'_I'll come back for them. As soon as I contact Charles, and I know I'm still _homo superior_, I'll come back for them_.' he reassured, retreating to the fringes of the city.

* * *

><p>AN: Coming up: search and rescue mission, X-Men style!


	12. Chapter 12: Say What?

Chapter 12: Say what?

(Storm)

Returning the kids to their home lifted a weight off her chest; one she was nearly suffocating from. The children were just as happy to be home as she was, and the place was for the most part cleaned up.

After searching the entirety of the school, and having no luck in finding Logan to check up on, she asked Scott.

"He's out with Magneto and Mystique. They're going after Pyro." he answered.

"God, I hope they're okay." she said, sitting next to Scott at the kitchen table. Scott didn't say anything, but had a look on his face suggesting he was in thought. "You seem like you're doing…better." she tried. hoping to engage him in conversation.

He looked to her and smiled weakly. "Believe it or not, Logan helped."

"Really?" she said.

"I…I shot him into a tree." he said, beginning to laugh softly. She smiled, knowing it had been a while since he had the pleasure. Once he stopped, the two were quiet for a good ten minutes, thinking about nothing before Bobby and Rogue arrived. Storm excused herself and went to her room, exhaling loudly through her mouth as she collapsed onto her bed and stretched.

She must've dozed off because when she got out of bed, it was nearing sunset. Deciding to go to the kitchen for a glass of water, she went downstairs. Logan's room was still empty, which meant he hadn't returned, so she abandoned her water and went inside the Professor's office, where her mentor was not located. She even checked his room, and still found no sign of him. Starting to worry, she went to the underground levels, and saw him leaving Cerebro.

"Checking on Logan and the others?" she asked.

"Yes." he said, looking a tad concerned.

"Are they okay?" she asked.

"I'm not sure. Logan, Mystique, and Pyro have disappeared from Cerebro, and Erik's signal is faint. We need to go to Manhattan." he said, leading her to the elevator.

'_Disappeared? They're not on Cerebro's radar? That means…no_!' she thought, covering her mouth in worry. Before pressing any buttons, Xavier tilted his head slightly, like he was listening.

"It's Erik. He's alright, but Logan and Mystique were apprehended. They're being held at the New York City Police Headquarters." he said, pressing the 'up' button. They entered the elevator and quickly arrived on the ground floor, immediately heading into Xavier's office, where the rest of the X-Men had congregated.

As he explained the situation to the team, Storm returned to the underground levels to prep the jet…that is, until she remembered the jet was already in Manhattan. Feeling like an idiot, she turned on her heels and changed course to the garage, knowing Scott would want to drive this time.

* * *

><p>(Rogue)<p>

"I'll be happy to stay and watch the kids again, Professor." she replied to his inquiry.

"What? Why?" Bobby asked, facing her.

"Come on, Bobby. Out of everyone here, I'm the weakest link. I can't fight someone unless they're up in my face, or I nearly kill one of you. It's okay, really." she said, lowering her voice. Not out of shame, though.

"That's-that's not true. You're not useless Rogue, you're an X-Man. Well, X-Woman." he said, lightly gripping her arm at the elbow.

She looked into his eyes and got this warm, tingly feeling in her gut. "Right now, I'll be best here, keeping the next generation of mutants safe while you go save our friends. Well, some of them are our friends." she said, giving an awkward smile. They lightly kissed before everyone else left, and Rogue sat on the couch, watching the news for any updates on the growing anti-mutant war.

* * *

><p>(Kitty)<p>

The six of them easily fit into the Professor's oversized handicap van. Scott drove with a lead foot, cutting their driving time down by half. Xavier kept any cops away by making the van appear as if it was going the speed limit.

When they entered Manhattan, it felt like the city had its own atmosphere. The air felt thick, almost hostile. Xavier relayed directions to Scott, and they pulled into a park, and Magneto emerged from hiding.

"Which way is it to the station?" Storm asked, looking down the empty street. In the distance, she saw roadblocks had been put up.

"Just follow me. The building I heavily guarded, and…well, when I grabbed a door handle, something happened." Magneto said. He held out a hand, as if to demonstrate something. He pushed his hand, palm out, at their van, but nothing happened.

"Oh, Erik. You know this means you can't come…" Xavier started.

"I'm not going to just sit here…" Erik interjected.

"Yes you are. You're vulnerable. As long as you remain hidden, you will be safe here. Please do be careful." Xavier interrupted, ending things.

Magneto glared, but pointed in the distance. "Take the next right, then the first left. Do be careful."

"We'll be fine." Xavier said. Magneto left and the group followed his directions, pulling over a block away from the station. They moved closer on foot, careful to be unseen.

"Everyone's inside the building. Logan, Mystique, and Pyro are still alive." the Professor said.

"So now what?" Kitty asked.

"We'll draw some of the cops out with a distraction, then, Ms. Pryde, you'll take Mr. Drake and Mr. Rasputin inside with you. Stay intangible and intact the entire way, and you'll be safe. If you find any of them, let me know, and we'll come to you." Professor Xavier explained calmly, nearly fatherly.

"Got it, Professor." she said, looking to Bobby and Pete.

"What kind of distraction…" Pete started, but Professor Summers shot a gaping hole through the front of the building, obliterating the door. "Well that answers that." the teen mumbled.

"Get ready." Xavier stated. She grabbed hold of Bobby and Pete, feeling herself start to phase. A handful of cops, maybe six, ran outside, their guns drawn even though they were visibly scared, and Xavier froze them.

"I can't freeze anybody inside, there's some sort of protection around the building. Do know that any that take one step out here will not bother you three in there, though. Now go, be careful." the Professor instructed.

The three students parted from their teachers, running hand-in-hand through the outside wall of the NYPD. The trio stopped in the middle of the front room, partially unsure of where to go. They walked through chunks of concrete, and shards of glass, listening to voices yelling and assessing the situation nearby. One cop, definitely a young rookie, wandered into the room, saw the three of them, and ran away, thinking they caused the explosion.

"Alright, stay close." Kitty said, leading the two of them through a wall. They were inside a holding cell, and were spotted by two cops who started firing. The three younger members of the X-Men screamed and flinched at the sudden act of violence, but Kitty's ability saved them from harm.

"Go! Go!" Bobby yelled, slightly pushing her.

Kitty ran, and they phased through another wall, bringing them to the head of a stair case. Sharing looks that signified they were more scared than anything, they slowly made their way down the steps, and were faced with a chasm of concrete hallways and reinforced steel doors. Echoes of screams and yelled obscenities echoed through the underground lair.

"Oh my God." she whispered, sick to her stomach for anyone having to go through that much pain.

"This is…this is bad." Bobby said, his voice shaky.

"It's disgusting." Kitty said. She mentally informed the Professor of their whereabouts and they slowly advanced down the hall.

* * *

><p>AN: Up next, we got some more torture, some more smart-ass comments from the torturer, and some unpleasant news is shared.


	13. Chapter 13: Broken

Chapter 13: Broken

(Mystique)

As her eyes started to open, she squinted to try and reduce the glare of the fluorescent lights above to her sensitive eyes. She'd open her eyes bit by bit until they were fully adjusted, and then she started looking around the room. She was heavily taped to a chair at the wrists and ankles with duct tape. Besides her, two chairs, and a table, the only other thing in the room was a protected security camera up in the corner. The initial shock was wearing off, and that's when she noticed the ache in her left shoulder, and right thigh. She saw patches of gauze; pristine, sterile, and nicely covering up the bullet wounds.

The door swung open, and four soldiers marched in, one moving to each corner of the room. Another man came inside as well, wearing a suit, and began to lay out an assortment of trays, weapons, and bowls.

"Well, well, well…Raven Darkholme. Mystique. Magneto's right arm. What a surprise this is, two of Magneto's lackeys, here in Manhattan." the man said, straightening his tie as he finished neatly organizing his things on the table. She didn't say anything, only watched as he decided to move some things around on the table.

"Your little boy toy fuck buddy, Pyro, he's very loyal to your boss. Didn't tell me one iota on the Brotherhood."

"If you hurt him, I swear…" she began.

"You'll what? You're the one tied up. Besides, I'm a torturer. Hurting others is part of the job." he spoke casually.

She glared at him, feeling her very soul boil over with rage. "You may as well kill me, because I won't say anything."

The man laughed softly, and smiled at her. "That's almost exactly what he said. I can see why the two of you are involved. You're both smart ass, second rate, Magneto bitches."

"And you're just a walking dick with a sharp knife." she said, huffing. In a flash, he was beside her, digging his thumb into her shoulder wound. She screamed for as long as the pain persisted, and then it was reduced to a burning throb. The gauze now had a red spot in the middle, and she watched it grow.

"Don't make me upset. I get very creative when the emotions flare up. Here, see for yourself." he said, nodding to the guard closest to the door. As he left, Mystique started to get her hopes up that she would see Pyro, to know that he was still alive. But was she prepared to see what shape he was in?

The soldier returned, dragging Pyro in and throwing him into the other chair. He cried out, and she could see bruises all over him.

"Handiwork of yours truly." the torturer said, standing behind Pyro.

"You son of a bitch!" she snapped, seething. Pyro stirred at the outburst, lifting his head weakly. She was sick to her stomach as she took in his appearance. One eye was completely swollen shut and a dark purple color surrounded it. His hair was matted with dried blood, his jaw had a large bruise, his left ear was bleeding, and his nose was swollen and broken. Her eyes moved down, and she shuddered as more injuries revealed themselves. His right arm had half a dozen nails driven through it, and his left had been sliced and diced every which way, and it was dislocated; a band of black and purple swung all the way around his shoulder. Three fingernails were missing from each hand, and his torso was covered in precise, shallow stabs. Those injuries were so overwhelming that she almost missed the small injection mark in his neck…and those were just the injuries she could see. God only knew what was hidden from her view.

Pyro's eyes had avoided hers as she looked over her body, but the two lovers eventually made eye contact. His eyes watered and a single tear fell from his good eye. James drummed his fingers together as they continued to stare at each other.

"Pyro, hey. It's me." she said, giving an empathetic smile.

He gurgled and tried to clear his throat. "No…M-Mystique…why?...Why?" was all he could manage, blinking heavily. Each word was a challenge to produce, and each was ended by a wheeze.

"You know why." she said softly, watching as he struggled to maintain eye contact.

"Where…where's James?" he asked.

"Right behind you, lover boy." the psycho said, clapping a hand on the dislocated shoulder. Pyro winced and looked down to the floor.

"Told you…not to…call me that." Pyro rasped.

"And I told you that I don't give two shits about your opinion." the man named James said, moving to sit casually at the end of the table. Mystique could see Pyro clench his teeth hard, working his jaw.

"So, Mystique, was I right? I get imaginative when I' upset, so please keep that in mind." James said, motioning to one of the soldiers, who came forward. "Take him back to his cell."

Pyro moaned quietly as the guard pulled him up to his feet.

"No! Pyro, baby, we'll get you out of here! I promise!" she cried as he was dragged away to the door.

"Hold on." James said, stopping the soldier at the door. The man turned around with her beloved, and James walked around until he was flanking Pyro.

"You still want him? Even after….oh, that's right! You don't know." he said, smiling as he took a couple steps toward her.

"Don't know what?" she asked, looking from James to Pyro. The torturer sniggered and turned to face Pyro, to watch his reaction.

"Your lover boy here, he's…broken. Violated. He's been used up."

She watched Pyro, whose eyes were glued to the floor. His body looked painfully stiff, and he was barely breathing. "His cellmate's pretty savage. Pyro became his little bitch in every sense of the term." James continued, now facing her. His statements sunk in horribly and she again looked to her boyfriend, who still wouldn't look up at her.

"Still want him now?" the man sneered.

"You asshole! I'm going to kill you if it's the last thing I do!" he spat, more pissed off than she'd ever felt.

"Well, in that case, set him back down here. He's going to love this." he said. The soldier again dropped Pyro into the other chair and returned to his corner. James picked up a syringe laying on the black cloth and forced Pyro's head back, the latter grimacing in pain.

"Let him go!" she hissed through gritted teeth.

"No can do. You wanted him to stay. He's staying."

"Don't hurt him anymore." she said.

"Do you still love him?" he asked, staring deep into her eyes.

She looked at the needle hovering right above Pyro's neck. "Yes."

"Interesting." he said, setting the syringe down carefully. "Congratulations, Pyro, you made it to day three. Let's get the party started." he added, grabbing a rag and a bowl of water.

"Tell me, have either of you heard of waterboarding?" he asked, looking between the two mutants.

"James, don't you hurt her!" Pyro said, growing more alert as he stiffened against his chair.

"Please, you can barely keep your eye open. I think you're a little obsolete in the threat department. Besides, watching your whore slowly drown will be my best torture yet. That is, unless you tell me where your little base camp is." James threatened.

"We'll die before we tell you anything." Mystique said, swallowing her fear.

"Okay, you said it." James replied, tipping Mystiques chair over so she was on her back.

Her head was pounding internally at the impact, and she tried to shake away the vertigo.

"Don't do it!" Pyro yelled even louder. She saw a dark figure loom over her, blinking away the fuzzy spots. They faded, and the figure was James, who placed a cloth over her mouth and nose. Her heart started to pound like her head, making each terrifying second equally painful.

"This shouldn't hurt too much. Luckily for you, drowning is one of the least painful deaths." James said, starting to tilt the bowl of water towards her. She looked at Pyro, slowly shaking her head at him to not try anything, and he looked away, all four guards training their weapons on him.

* * *

><p>AN: Next chapter, we'll see the President try to negotiate peace, and a look into what and why Mark is what he is.


	14. Chapter 14: Coexisting vs Abandonment

Chapter 14: Coexisting vs. Abandonment

(President McKenna)

"Thank you all for arriving on such short notice." the leader of the United States announced, closing the door behind him.

The room was quiet as he sat, poured himself a glass of water, and took a small sip. "Ladies and gentlemen," he began, swallowing the lump in his throat. "you are here because I've recently been alerted to a mistake. My mistake. The decision to cleanse the United States of any mutant inhabitants was a poor one, and I can only blame myself for making it. The last thing we need right now is to inadvertently start World War Three." he said, already feeling the uncertainty in the gazing eyes.

"World War Three? Mr. President, with all do respect, what the rest of the world does with their mutant populations is their own business. There isn't a global manhunt on the mutants." a man in the front row said.

"When we started this operation, we never thought out the long-term consequences. Many of our allies, including Australia, Bangladesh, France, Italy, and Japan, to name a few, are all pro-mutant. If they hear about what we've been doing, it could lead to an economic crisis. We could go into another Depression!" he declared, feeling a weight being lifted off his shoulders. He was doing the right thing this time, he could feel it.

"Mr. President, even if we did stop, it wouldn't change how we feel about them. There's just too much friction between us and them." a man in the back spoke up. That caused a flurry of outbursts and accusations, just as the President thought it would.

"Friction that can be resolved in time. We have to be the bigger man here and step down before this spirals too far out of control!" he said.

"Step down? They're cockroaches!" another man shouted.

"They're human beings, they don't deserve this." a woman spoke up.

"If you love 'em so much, buy 'em all plane tickets out of here." a man in the third row countered.

"Calm down! Excuse me, calm down!" the President yelled, finally quieting the room. He took a deep breath and sighed, feeling the onset of a stress headache. "According to our most recent reports, over fifteen percent of the mutant population has been killed. That's almost two million of them…gone. I understand the fear that many of you have towards them, but at what point does this become too much? How much more blood must we shed?" he asked.

"Sir, this is heresay!" a woman shouted.

"Is it? I've been reflecting back on recent events. We had a truce with the mutants, and we had two months of coexistence. Now, as I recall, people were for the most part okay with that. But then one person slips up and we destroy everything? And mark my words, we _will_ destroy everything if we continue this. We will be abandoned by all international allies we have, and we will regret it for the rest of our lives. Ladies and gentlemen, I became President to help, support, and lead this country. The same applies for all of its inhabitants, too." he declared, taking another sip of water in the silence of the room.

'_Here's to a great day_.' he thought sarcastically as he looked at the half-empty glass.

* * *

><p>(Wolverine)<p>

He sat in his cell, ironically paired with Mark, whose pointy, black teeth still creeped him out even though he'd never admit it to anyone.

"You know, in a twisted sort of way, I'm kinda glad I'm finally down here. It got old up there really fast." his black-fanged cellmate said, stirring him from his quiet thoughts of envisioning an escape plan.

"That makes one of us." he grumbled, rubbing his sore neck.

The screams of terror and pain his sensitive hearing could pick up were literally on the verge of scaring him. He was well beyond worry at this point, not sure if Magneto or even the X-Men could get him out of this mess.

"So, I was wondering…" Mark began, pausing for a moment, "since this is possibly our last day on Earth, um, want to make it special?"

Wolverine turned to face his cellmate in the pitch-blackness. "Listen, bub, I'm not gay."

"I'm not either, but what the hell, right? We might like it." Mark replied.

He felt a hand blindly grasp at his own, and he pulled away. "No means no." he snapped.

"Okay. I get it. Sorry I bought it up." Mark sheepishly replied. He heard the mutant scoot away, chuckling.

"How the hell can you think about sex at a time like this?" he asked, still hearing the tortured screams.

"Well, when you're scared out of your mind, it'll do anything, rationalize anything, to distract you." Mark replied.

He sighed and rested the back of his head against the wall. This place couldn't be _that_ hard to escape from, could it? There had to be an Achilles heel, something to improve their chances of survival! Trying to claw his way through the door or the walls didn't work, even with his claws, and there was nothing in the room to help him out. He could forget about asking Mark, the future predictor, for help…the guy was pretty useless in terms of escaping from a concrete tomb.

"Man, I have to pee so bad. At least upstairs there was a urinal…I couldn't find one in here." the future predictor whined.

"Judging by the smell of this place, there isn't one. Just go in the corner." he shot back, annoyed.

"Oh, come on! I'm a civilized, thirty-two year old 9-1-1 operator. I'm not going in the corner like an animal. That's just…no!" Mark complained.

"Then go in your pants, or hold it. Either way, you'll stop giving me a headache." he said. Mark grumbled and Wolverine heard him walk away and unzip his pants.

"So tell me, how does a 9-1-1 operator become the Justin Bieber of mutants?" he asked.

"Are you seriously comparing me to some kid pop star? And why him – his music sucks."

"Yeah, I am. You're both all over the media, and people won't shut the hell up about you." he said, smiling to himself.

'_Oh, Beliebers, if you could hear us now_.' he thought as his smile grew a little.

"Well," Mark began, returning to a sitting position opposite him, "when I was nineteen, I was living in Chicago. I got my first vision in my apartment, saw this huge twelve-car pileup unravel in my head on the interstate just outside the city. Of course, I ignored it, but then it _happened_, two days later. My uh, my girlfriend and her cousin were killed in it." the mutant explained sadly.

"I'm sorry." Wolverine said when Mark trailed off, knowing it probably meant little-to-nothing at the moment.

"So was I. I moved to New York after the funeral, and eleven months later, I had another vision of a robbery-homicide in Queens. Had some more after that, all at random times, but never too frequently or too far apart…and they always came true no matter how I tried to stop them."

"Which explains your urgency in your little news pop-ups." Wolverine said.

"Yes! I knew exactly when and where the truce would be broken. I tried getting to D.C. to stop it, but first my flight got canceled, then my car broke down, and then the bus I took got held up at a traffic jam. There was simply no way, and no time, for me to stop it." Mark said.

"Did you try making an anonymous tip?" he asked. He could tell by the silence that Mark was giving him a look that said 'you're kidding, right?'

" 'Course I did! They laughed me off the phone, those dumb bastards." Mark replied.

Wolverine heard footsteps coming down the hall, and shushed Mark right before the door to their cell opened, blinding them. Wolverine held up a hand, making out a fuzzy man entering the room.

"Aren't you the lucky one. Special orders from the President, you're going to the Whitehouse." the man said.

All he could do was gape at the guy. Special? What the hell was that supposed to mean? The guard grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the cell, sealing Mark inside.

"Sweet dreams." the guard said, injecting a sedative into his neck. Before he even had time to extend his claws, he could feel himself going under.

* * *

><p>AN: So, next chapter we see a change for the better in Magneto, and something strange happens to Wolverine.


	15. Chapter 15: Hope

Chapter 15: Hope

(Mark)

Once Logan was hauled away, he was all alone…again…and it terrified him beyond belief. He had absolutely nothing to distract him from the pained cries, forcing him to listen to each and every one. Why did he have to be the one cursed with visions of death? Cursed to know a mutant's identity as soon as he laid eyes on one? The only upside to it was that he knew the people here wouldn't kill him…they needed him. But staying in this tiny, dark room…this was not how he envisioned the underground level at all. The only thing he got right were the screams, and that didn't comfort him.

All at once, his right arm felt ice cold, causing a chill to run down his spine. He knew what was coming and rolled up his sleeve, where a glowing red All-Seeing Eye faded into view. He stared at it, through it, and a vision filled his head with a bunch of images: people, no, _mutants_ entering the station, coming to the rescue. He was going to be saved! All of them down here were, he could see it! The vision played on, and he waited for the massive body count to appear, but he never saw one. There was simply a flash of dull red, then nothing. His vision focused on the red symbol disappearing, and he swallowed nervously. That vision…its end…it was his death.

* * *

><p>(Magneto)<p>

Sitting all alone in the park as the city's citizens went on with their day without a care, he felt useless. He obeyed his dear friend and remained hidden in the park, but he was impatient. He'd love to see the look on those _homo sapiens'_ faces as they recognized him and fled, running for their lives from a powerless mutant terrorist.

He sighed heavily and looked toward the sectioned off end of the one-block radius that had come up a couple minutes ago. He wondered why the entire city wasn't put on alert, considering the area was currently under mutant attack. At that moment, like he made it happen, five police cars sped by with their sirens wailing.

'_Too bad I can't stop them_.' he thought, watching the lights vanish around a corner. He hated this! Being forced to the sidelines while his comrades were out there, risking their lives, or even already dead…he couldn't take it anymore. He needed to be out there, active, making a stand.

With his mind already decided, he stood up and stepped out of the bushes. Gift or no gift, he was going to that police station. Civilians walking or driving freaked as they saw him, just as he knew they would. Cars swerved, sped, braked, anything to avoid his advancing form. Pedestrians cleared a mile-wide path and he smiled to himself, reveling in their fear. He heard gunfire as he took a right at the intersection, and the sound only got louder as he took the next left. He spotted the X-Men up ahead, holding their own rather well, although he didn't particularly agree with their non-violent approach. There was nothing he could do to change that until his powers returned…if they returned.

A man resembling Sabretooth, and a young girl emerged from behind the police station, fleeing in terror. '_The rest of the X-Men must be in there, freeing the mutants_.' he realized, feeling hopeful. He watched the two mutants head away from the building, only to be stopped by two cops across the road. He clenched his fist angrily, knowing the two mutants didn't deserve to be slaughtered after a couple seconds of freedom. The larger mutant protectively shielded the girl, and one of the cops' guns suddenly aimed up and fired. Magneto flinched, feeling a surge jolt through him. His hands started to shake, and the cops aimed their weapons at each other, uselessly trying to pull the guns away. The mutants continued to run, and Magneto forced the cops to shoot each other in the heart. A familiar feeling returned to him, and his eyes shined with it: power.

* * *

><p>(Wolverine)<p>

"What am I doing here?" he asked President McKenna after waking up inside the man's office and ascertaining there were zero threats.

"We don't have much time. I needed to pass a message to one of you X-Men, and you were the only captive. This hasn't been easy, but I've managed to slow down this…war." the President replied, pacing the room/

"Really?" he asked, not buying it.

"In the end, it'll come down to a vote. If we win, we can make it illegal to hunt down mutants." McKenna explained.

Wolverine rubbed a hand across his face. "Seriously? You started this thing! All do respect, and whatever, but what the hell? If you win? If?! What if you don't, huh? What, we're all dead?" the mutant retorted, sitting back down. The President sat at his desk, exhaling loudly.

"I was stuck in one of those cells. Let me tell you something, it's inhumane. You need to get your shit together and put an end to this, or we will." Wolverine threatened.

"You think I'm just sitting on my thumbs? I'm busting my balls trying to fix this!" McKenna snapped.

"I don't care if your balls fall _off_. If one of my friends die, just one, I'm coming for you, and I'll make you wish you were never born." he said, standing up.

"You know, hope is a dangerous thing to lose." the President said as he opened the door.

'_Yeah? Well so is your life_.' he threatened internally as two guards came to take him back to New York.

He awoke to the sounds of gunfire, and the smell of smoke. He blinked groggily and slowly sat up. What in the hell happened? He looked around, seeing the helicopter he was in had crashed…into a Manhattan skyscraper. He felt his flesh knit together and he got to his feet, going over to the broken wall. The gunfire was distant, but definitely outside.

A moan from behind caught his attention and he spun around, claws instinctively revealed. A soldier was dragging himself away from the wreckage, in excruciating agony due to his mutilated leg. Wolverine sauntered over to the man, realizing it was the one that enjoyed stabbing him in the neck with the sedative. "What happened? Why did we crash?" he asked him.

"Shitty pilot." the man replied, terrified as Wolverine knelt next to him.

"I bet it was one of the guys I came here with. You might have heard of him: Magneto." he said, listening to the soldier's quickening breathing and heart rate. Oh yes, he was scared shitless. "I'm thinking he kamikaze your helicopter. Probably didn't know I was in it. Guess I owe the bastard now, thanks for that." he growled, swiping his arm to the side. Three horizontal slits appeared on the man's throat, causing a sequence of gurgling, choking gasps to burst from the man's lips. Wolverine stood, watching the man bleed to death, and smiled. Once the deed was done, he looked to the window.

"Well, I've always wanted to skydive." he said, taking a running leap out of the building. During the free-fall, he felt completely exhilarated and laughed to himself. Not a single person or car was present as he plummeted, and crashed into a window washer's abandoned support scaffold. He bounced through its wall, and dropped to the cement sidewalk, blacking out in pain.

* * *

><p>AN: This is the beginning of the story's sub-plot. I hope you enjoy! Something's going on with Wolverine, and it doesn't stop with just him…

A/N 2: Next chapter, the X-Men's rescue attempt reaches its climax.

A/N 3: Reviews are appreciated immensely!


	16. Chapter 16: Frenemies

Chapter 16: Frenemies

(Bobby)

They must have freed over a dozen imprisoned mutants by now, and yet they still haven't been caught. The holding cells were surprisingly unguarded, and the commotion above them was likely keeping many people occupied. The torture wing, however, had all the muscle, but they still had at least eight more rooms to check before worrying about that. There was no word on John, Mystique, or Wolverine so far, and the three of them were starting to worry. After three more cells, and four rescued mutants, they heard a particularly pained yell, feminine and much louder than the others, which made them all stop and look back anxiously.

"The Professor, and the others, they're on their way. He says we should keep going." Kitty said, slightly pulling them away. A door in the torture wing opened, and the trio moved into the closest cell, which was empty. They heard another door open and close, and they waited for the footsteps to fade away. Kitty took them back through the empty cells, unseen, until they found the tortured mutant. Bobby tightened his free fist at the sound of her crying, which was much louder, and it reminded him of Rogue. What if something like this happened to her?

The three of them weren't sure how to approach her without scaring the daylights out of her fragile psyche, and an alarm suddenly went off, high pitched like a tornado siren. The girl just cried louder, oblivious to the three of them.

"Hey," he said softly, "it's okay, we're gonna get you out of here." It was hard to tell in the dark, but he was pretty sure she jumped at the sound of his voice.

"I'm reaching my hand out. Don't be afraid." he said, blindly stretching his arm out to the sound of her sniffles. He finally found her hand and she flinched.

"It's okay. Just hold on to me." he said. Her grip tightened, and he felt she was missing a fingernail, making his stomach recoil.

"Let's go." he told Kitty, and the group phased through the door. In the light, the girl's wounds stuck out, and he found himself comparing her to a car wreck; you wanted to look away, but you couldn't. A section of her long, brunette hair was torn from the scalp, she was missing a couple fingernails, and her body was covered in bruises.

"You guys go on. I'll help her out." he said, slinging one of her arms around his neck.

"Please be careful." Kitty said.

"Count on it." he replied, slowly taking the girl away from the cell. By the time they reached the stairs, two more freed mutants rushed by in a sprint.

Out of nowhere, a guard turned the corner, aiming her gun up at him. "Freeze!"

Since she was holding a rather imposing automatic rifle, he obeyed, stopping in his tracks. The siren stopped, and he saw Pete and Kitty run through a wall, chased by a guard who was forced to stop.

"Stay where you are! Don't move!" the female soldier ordered, cautiously approaching them. He maneuvered the girl's arm so she was no longer leaning against him, but the wall; his eyes focused on the antsy official before him.

"Hands on the wall, let's go." she said, motioning to the wall with her weapon. The two mutants placed their hands on the wall, and the guard moved to restrain them. Once she was close enough, he spun around and punched her with a solid ice fist, knocking her out cold. He moved to kick her gun away, but the prisoner he was helping grabbed it and ran back to the holding cells, letting out a cry of anger.

"Hey, wait!" he yelled, hastily handcuffing the soldier. Gunfire filled the hallways, echoing loudly, and Kitty and Pete rose up from the concrete floor. He grabbed her free hand and the deafening noise stopped.

"We got 'em all out, but the last one…" Pete trailed off, glancing back to the other hallway. They heard running above them, and the X-Men, plus Magneto, descended down the stairs.

"Are you okay?" Storm asked in one breath, worriedly. Professor Xavier was forced to remain on the floor above them, but watched with concern.

"We're fine, we're okay." Kitty replied.

"There's gonna be more soldiers coming soon." Pete said, out of breath.

"I'll take care of the soldiers down here. There's still mutants down there." Professor Summers said, adjusting his visor as he stepped forward. More screams supported his statement.

Storm came forward, and took Bobby's hand. "I'll help you kids."

"I trust you'll get Pyro and Mystique out, so I'll stay here. Besides, you'll need _some_ protection." Magneto said, facing Mr. Summers, who looked slightly uncomfortable. Nevertheless, the two mutants went ahead of the others, furiously attacking the remaining forces guarding the torture wing.

As the four intangible mutants phased through one of the hall's walls, Bobby spotted the girl he tried to save, her body mutilated even further by dozens upon dozens of bullet holes. He also spotted the mutant they failed to save, who went down in the crossfire. They were out in the open for only for a split-second, but Bobby swore the guy had black, pointy teeth…

The automatic gunfire still blared, but so did Professor Summers' optic blasts. The four of them phased into the closest sealed room, and all of them stopped in their tracks as they witnessed Mystique being drowned, while the only guard in the room was forcing Pyro to watch. They were all motionless, even when the guard spotted them and immediately opened fire, causing John to flinch and the torture guy to look up. Realizing his bullets were of no use, the soldier stopped firing, and Storm's eyes turned white.

"What are you waiting for? Do something, you oaf!" the brown eyed pain inflictor yelled. The soldier reached for something at his waist, but was too slow to counteract Storm's static electric attack. For a very amusing moment, everyone's hair was standing on end, and Storm gathered up all that energy and fired a bolt of bright blue lightning into the soldier, who dropped like a brick. The lone human swallowed nervously, staying where he was. Bobby stared at the unfurling John, who curled up to avoid the lightning…the only person he considered both a friend and an enemy. He watched his frenemy put an injured hand on the table and slowly curl it into a fist, staring at Mystique's still body, a wet rag plastered to her face.

"Back away, now." Storm ordered, her eyes still white. The man did so, and pressed his body against the wall. Bobby then realized the gunfire outside was still present, but not nearly as loud. The teacher moved to Pyro and checked him over.

"I'm fine. Help her, please!" John brokenly pleaded, his voice cracking. Storm looked over at Mystique's body, then back to him and shook her head sadly.

His friend refused to believe it and slammed his nailed-up arm on the table, making everyone except the human flinch. "I said help her! Now!" he yelled, surprisingly loud given his voice's hoarseness. Bobby looked at Pete and signaled to the torturer, giving the silent order to watch him. Pete nodded and Bobby rushed to Mystique's body. He peeled away the soaked rag and realized she had been shot twice. How in the world he missed the dual patches of gauze, he didn't know.

She wasn't breathing and he suddenly realized how quiet the room was as everyone stared at him. Boredom-induced CPR research surfaced in his mind and he started the chest compressions. After the first set, he held her nose shut and breathed into her mouth. There was no reaction and he started another set of compressions. After another breath, he started worrying. He wasn't a trained professional. What if he was doing something wrong? What if he was breathing air into her stomach, not her lungs? Was he even doing the right number of chest compressions? He tilted her head back a bit, very gingerly, and breathed into her again. He did three more compressions before she coughed up some water, gasping for much needed breath.

A smile formed on his face and he looked to John and Storm, both of whom were masked with relief.

"Mystique, babe, I'm right here." John said, being helped up by Storm. Bobby slowly eased up Mystique's chair into a normal sitting position and Storm lowered John down next to it. The X-Men moved away to give the two some privacy, but as he watched John carefully hug her even though it obviously caused him pain, he found himself really missing Rogue.

"Well this is just a lovey-dovey scene." the human announced, still standing against the wall.

"Yeah, I bet it's just…a kick in the balls." John said, pausing and wincing as he turned to face the guy.

"Oh, contraire. It warms my heart to know she still accepts you, lover boy." the man sarcastically sneered. Bobby noticed the glare of hate that formed on John's face, noting that even through his swollen, bruised flesh, he still looked like the Pyro he remembered.

There was a moment of silence before John tried, and utterly failed, to free Mystique from her duct tape restraints. If John knew how much pity Bobby felt at that moment for him, there would've been a punch thrown, gimp arm or not. Pete silently approached, tearing the duct tape with ease. The two males shared a look, and John nodded, giving approval for Pete to help Mystique up. Bobby immediately went to help John, getting up close and personal with his injuries.

"What, no goodbyes?" the torturer asked, giving John and Mystique a sly grin.

"You want goodbyes, James? Give me a lighter." his friend replied, his voice straining to come off as even semi-threatening.

"Pete, Bobby, get them out of here." Storm ordered, moving to block the torturer's view. The two friends dragged the two lovers out of the room, coming to a stop as they heard more gunfire.

"Should we wait or go back for Kitty?" Pete asked.

Bobby looked back behind them, then to the hallway up ahead to their right. "I…I'm not sure."

So they stood there, and Bobby shifted, feeling John was getting heavier and heavier.

"Y'know, Iceman…when I can move without nearly…passin' out…I'm gonna kick your ass for getting to… first base with her." John mumbled between deep breaths.

"Promises, promises." he quickly replied, trying to pull John up without hurting him.

They decided to wait there until the shooting stopped, knowing it couldn't be long. There was a flash of lightning, and a sudden smell of burned meat, and they knew what became of the man called James.

"Wish I could've killed th' fucker." John said, turning to look at Mystique.

Storm and Kitty emerged from the room, the older looking pretty damn satisfied as they moved to the next room.

"Give those assholes my regards." Mystique requested as they passed. The gunfire abruptly stopped as the two phased into the next room, and Bobby inched forward, slowly peeking around the corner. The men were all on the ground, and Professor Summers and Magneto were unharmed. He looked back at Pete and nodded forward, turning the corner and trying to keep John from tripping over dead bodies.

They were spotted, and the older mutants looked relieved and worried at the sight of the two tortured Brotherhood members.

"Are they okay?" Professor Summers asked, paling a bit.

"Flesh wounds." John said, lifting his head to look up at the two leaders. Bobby could see the two sported similar looks of horror as the wounds covering Pyro became clearer.

"Woah, woah, woah, Bobby. Set him down." the X-Man ordered, approaching them.

"Why? What is it?" he asked, slowly doing so.

"Shit! Dammit, Bobby, be careful!" John hissed.

"John. Your shoulder is dislocated." the teacher said, examining the shoulder.

"Did I not mention that? My bad." the Brotherhood mutant said, scrunching his face. Even in his struggling-to-keep-conscious voice, Bobby could hear the smart ass tone shine through. Cyclops knelt next to John, gingerly probing the obviously bruised and unnatural shoulder he somehow failed to notice.

"Alright, you ready? On three. One…"

_POP_.

"AAAAAHH! Son of a _bitch_! Fu-uck!"

* * *

><p>AN: Yay, rescue! Or is it?

A/N 2: Next, we'll see a return to the Whitehouse when Pyro reveals something he overheard…is the President really on their side?


	17. Chapter 17: One step closer to the End

Chapter 17: One step closer to the End

(Xavier)

Aside from Pyro and Mystique, seven other tortured mutants were saved that day, totaling their number of rescues up to twenty-three. In the back of the basement level, Xavier was informed of a crematorium, its insides filled with ash and charred bone. He didn't want to know how many mutants were shoved in their before their arrival…

The two groups of mutants left the police station, slowly, to accommodate for Mystique and Pyro's limps and half-consciousness. They bypassed the large group of handcuffed cops, still mentally frozen, when they ran into Wolverine.

"Jesus, Logan, we looked everywhere for you! Where were…" Storm started.

"Long story. Here's the shorthand: the fate of mutant kind is coming down to a vote. Can you believe that?" the ex-missing member of the team explained.

"A vote?" Scott asked.

"Yeah. Hey, Mystique, Pyro, good to see you alive." Wolverine said.

"Same here." Mystique said weakly. The group slowly ventured back to the jet, which de-cloaked upon their arrival. Xavier wished some of the mutants they rescued came with them, but they all scattered when they left the station; like when a wounded animal flees first for its own safety, even from help from others.

Shrill police sirens cut through the air as a long line of SWAT and police rolled down the road towards them, all belonging to neighboring towns and cities. Erik huffed in amusement as the group split up, the wounded going into the jet, and he held out his hands, causing the cars to swerve and crash into each other. He and Erik went into the van, and the two mutant-occupied vehicles vacated the city.

They were lucky nobody followed them to Westchester, seeing as how they could have…

Manhattan was soon behind them, and by the time they returned to the school, the van was almost out of gas. He, Erik, and Scott entered the school and passed the medical room on their way to the elevator. Erik went inside while Storm and Pete worked on cleaning and bandaging the Brotherhood.

When he and Scott returned to the ground floor, they were greeted by all the younger students who were happy to see them. It was all hugs and smiles and laughs for a good hour. Rogue then announced that she had prepared dinner for their arrival…well, feast would better describe it, and within ten minutes, timers started buzzing.

Dinner rolls, hot dogs, hamburgers, French fries, salads, and frozen pizzas were spread out along the table and counters. The meal was excellent, easing even his mind for a couple moments of happiness. Pete and Storm joined them about halfway through their meal, drooling at the sight.

After he finished his meal, and praising Rogue for the treat, he and Storm went down to give the Brotherhood something to eat, as they had not come up since their arrival. On their way, Storm informed him on the conditions of Pyro and Mystique, and how she and Pete treated them. When they entered the room, they were surprised, but not at all shocked, to find the three mutants gone.

"They both need antibiotics or else they risk infection!" Storm alerted. Then they saw an open cabinet, with several missing viles, and pill bottles. Storm picked up a note next to the cabinet, and the two read it.

'_Thanks to you all for helping and no doubt saving the Brotherhood. Though Mystique would never admit it aloud, we could not have done it without you. Apologies for the lack of goodbyes, but you should know, Charles, that none of us are very good at them. But I'll tell you this: Pyro did overhear something from his time underground…President McKenna died during that attack on the Whitehouse, so you'd better gather up your precious X-Men and refuel the jet to figure out who, or what, we talked to at the Whitehouse was. I'd gladly join you, but I have to play nurse to my subordinates. We do wish you the best of luck…and hopefully you can bring an end to this bloodshed._'

They stared at the note in disbelief. If President McKenna really was dead, then that vote couldn't be swayed by his authority, meaning this journey was far from over.

* * *

><p>(Rogue)<p>

Bobby and Kitty helped her with the post-dinner clean up, and she was grateful for the help – there were dozens of plates, cups, and utensils that needed to be put away. As they worked, she was told more about the Manhattan ordeal, everything from the cops and soldiers, to the prison cells and torture rooms, to the rescue.

"So you guys, and Pete, you saved them? All those captive mutants? Oh my god, you guys!" she exclaimed, beyond proud of them. And just like that, it hit her…it had been months since she had seen, or heard from John, and even though he was seen as a no-good backstabber, she really wanted to see him.

"I'm afraid that's not possible, Rogue. Storm, will you please find the others and join us in my office?" the Professor asked from the hall. The three friends followed their teacher into his office and waited a couple minutes for the others to arrive.

"Professor, what is it?" Bobby asked.

"It appears we've all been fooled. A couple minutes ago, Storm and I were informed about a red herring in our midst. President McKenna was killed during the attack on the Whitehouse, and an imposter has been calling the shots ever since." the Professor announced.

"No way. I talked to the guy less than five hours ago. He's on our side." Logan insisted.

"Who told you he's dead?" Rogue asked.

"Erik left it in a goodbye note, and he said Pyro overheard the news while being held prisoner." the Professor answered.

"Goodbye note? What, they left right under our noses?" Bobby asked. She detected the hurt and anger in his voice…he risked his life to save John.

"Yes, they returned to their home, but that is not the greater issue here, Bobby. We have to return to D.C., and figure out if the rumors about McKenna hold truth." the older mutant said.

"So, when are we going?" Kitty asked.

"We're not, not all of us. It's been a stressful couple of days, so I'll only send Scott and Logan to accompany me. The rest of you, please try to get some rest. Tomorrow could bring more problems than solutions, but I pray that it won't." the Professor advised, leaving his office, followed closely by Logan and Scott.

* * *

><p>(President McKenna)<p>

Paperwork, documents, and more paperwork.

Being the leader of a nation was a lot like being a pencil pusher. He was so busy proofreading his spark notes for tomorrow's anticipated mutant/anti-mutant vote that it took him longer than he'd like to admit to realize he had company.

"Geez!" he flinched, taking a breath to calm his jitters. "Is…is something wrong? Did you get the message I passed along?" he asked, pointing to the surly-looking mutant.

"Yeah, they got it." the X-Man replied.

"Well, I'm kind of in the middle of preparing my opening for tomorrow's vote." he said, looking between the three mutants. The eldest one was staring at him, maybe even through him.

"That's why we're here, Mr. President. What side are you for?" the staring mutant asked.

"I beg your pardon?" he asked, his eyes darting to each mutant's face again, looking for a sign as to what this was about.

"You really had us going. We really believed you were the President." the sunglasses-wearing man said.

"I am the President! What are…"

"We're not falling for it this time. We know the real President was killed during that attack two weeks ago. We know you're just an imposter." the mutant he talked with earlier, the slightly berserk one, accused gruffly.

"An im…an imposter? You're insane! I was _almost_ killed in that attack. I gave the order to start hunting you down because people wanted blood, remember? We've had this conversation before!" he said, getting to his feet.

"Easy, bub." the berserker mutant said, defensive.

"Calm down. I'm just going to show you the wounds." the President said, flipping his tie over his shoulder as he unbuttoned his shirt. He revealed his bare torso, and along with it, the three healing wounds under light patches of gauze. "I'm me, I swear!"

He really needed them to believe him…he didn't want to be killed in his office.

The three mutants were quiet, and if he didn't know any better, he would've thought they were having some sort of telepathic conversation.

"Who exactly told you I wasn't me?" he asked as he buttoned his shirt. If there were people trying to get him killed, then this needed to be dealt with quickly.

"Your, uh, lovely followers at NYPD." the sunglasses-wearer answered.

"How do you know it was them? Did they tell you? Maybe one of the mutants you rescued was brainwashed or some…" he started.

"Sorry. We checked them for any foreign toxins and chemicals, anything like that. They were clean." Sunglasses said.

"Well then, maybe some New York cop thought it'd be funny to spread some dumb, Ludacris rumor about me, to try and sway the vote?" he suggested.

"We think you're lying, _Sir_." Berserker sneered in sarcasm.

"I'm lying? Seriously? What do I need to do to prove you guys I am on your side?"

"Answer this one question, and keep in mind, I am a mind reader. That night you were attacked, how many of your men died?" the mutant in the wheelchair asked, giving him this odd stare.

He closed his eyes, flashing back to that nightmare. "Seven. Seven men gave their lives that night."

The mutants looked at each other. "Wrong. It was ten."

* * *

><p>AN: Uh-oh! That's not the right answer!?

A/N 2: In case McKenna's "nicknames" confused you, Berserker is Wolverine, and Sunglasses is Cyclops.

A/N 3: Let's see, what's next, shall we? Wolverine deals with McKenna, but of course, his actions will have repercussions.


	18. Chapter 18: Imposter? Impossible!

Chapter 18: Imposter? Impossible!

(Wolverine)

"Ten? No, no, no, that can't be right." the fake President stammered nervously.

"Cut the crap, okay. You're busted." Wolverine said.

After some quick, deep, breaths, the President relaxed, shaking off the façade. "It's about time. I was getting tired of trying to be friends." McKenna said, but his voice was female. Wolverine scrunched his face in confusion, slightly tilting his head.

The President snapped his (her?) fingers, and his appearance melted away, only to be replaced by a stunning, curvy woman. Asian American, very sexy, captivating brown eyes, and her black hair neatly pulled back into a pony tail.

"Start talking, lady, or I fry you." Scott said. Logan shook his head, blinking to shake off the woman's hypnotic beauty.

"And you'd be dead before you could remove those sweet shades." she retorted, cockily placing one hand on her hip.

"We won't ask again. Who are you? What's your end game?" he asked, extending his claws to get her to cooperate.

"Sweetie, please don't act so macho. You'll pull something." she said, waving him off. The gesture was the last thing he saw, as he was suddenly, inexplicably blinded. As in, he couldn't see a dam thing, anywhere!

"What did you do to me?" he asked, enraged.

"Relax. Just relax." she whispered.

"Scott, fry this bitch." he snapped, turning to his comrades' general direction. The room was quiet…no laser beams were fired.

"Scott? Scott!" he yelled. Still nothing. Things had definitely gone topsy-turvy, and his skin bristled.

"Your friends can't help you right now. They're otherwise preoccupied by a lovely vision in their heads I'm playing out." the sexy-but-really-starting-to-irritate-the-hell-out-of-him woman spoke, her voice in his ear. He tried to back away from her, and tripped over a chair, which prompted him to jump up to his feet and slash out at the air like a madman.

"Careful! You almost sliced your friend's jugular vein. Wouldn't want that, would we?" she asked. Warned? Taunted? Either way, he could tell by her tone that she was smiling, enjoying this.

"So I guess it's just you and me. Mutant to mutant, can you at least tell me why? Why you're doing this?" he asked, unable to pinpoint her location with his hearing.

"Well, I'd like to just kill you and go about ending humanity, but I know you, Wolverine. Your gift prevents any permanent death. Boy, aren't you lucky." she spat.

He let out a small chuckle. "Lucky? Do you have any idea how many times I've technically died in the last year alone? I've seen things, lived things that would drive any normal person to the loony bin."

If he still had his sight, he would have seen her black, serrated teeth when she smiled again. "Yes, I know. I've been in your shoes. Seeing death and mutilation every day of every week can put a toll on your psyche. But then again, my ex-fiancée, Mark, must've told you everything."

He froze, and wished he didn't. It showed she had hit a nerve.

"We had the same ability, thought we were soul mates. But, as you know, his visions were few and far between. Mine were constant. I needed a distraction, something to put our visions at the same consistency. So, naturally, I altered a couple minds, started a mutant liberation." she stated.

'_Holy crap_.' his mind said. But before he could accuse her on ruining their kind's hope of any sort of future, he heard footsteps from outside the office, getting closer. Worried shouts to the Present were clearly audible.

"Looks like the old man's little mind trick wore off." Mark's ex said, again sounding like she was right next to him.

'_Fuck it_.' he thought, and jabbed his arm out, not at all squeamish at the blood running down his arm, not at all worried he had hit Scott or Xavier. The feminine gasp in pain proved he had hit his target, and as more of her blood flowed down his flesh, she fell from his claws. A flash of light blinded him as his sight returned, seeing the blood staining the carpet. Seeing Scott lunge down to her and apply pressure. Seeing…seeing that she was McKenna. His claws retracted, and again, he felt…distant.

* * *

><p>(Cyclops)<p>

The President's answer satisfied Xavier, but now they had to figure out who was trying to get the man overthrown, or even killed. Mutant radicalists? Home grown terrorists? They were discussing a number of theories they could try to prove, when Xavier suddenly shouted, "Logan, no!", and the President was impaled on the mutant's claws.

They stared in shock as McKenna's body slumped to the ground, blood soaking the carpet in seconds. Scott stared at Logan, startled when he thought he saw a flask of red in the man's eyes. It only lasted for a second, but it looked so real...he couldn't have imagined it.

"Logan, what did you do? What did you _do_?" he asked, staring at the body on the floor, his expression of fade surprise, his lightless eyes…

"It…it wasn't him! He was some psycho mutant chick!" Logan replied, looking like he was shaken from a reverie.

"We are completely fucked." Scott said softly before grabbing Logan's arm. This was one of the rare moments when he was glad Jean wasn't around, but at the same time, needed her more than ever.

"You hallucinated. We need to figure out what was done to you in Manhattan, test you for the experimental drug the President mentioned." Xavier said, unbelievably calm. The people inside the building were still motionless, and they retreated to the jet; he and Logan taking on the piloting duties and navigating back to Westchester.

On the way back, Logan explained the hallucination…it was almost terrifying. But that was all the more reason they had to get him checked out, and once they landed in the mansion's underground parking garage, they went straight for the medical bay.

Logan sat obediently on the stainless steel table, waiting through the many blood tests Scott could perform with his limited know-how. Stuff he learned from jean, who had a lot more experience than him.

"I bet it was the sedative that screwed me up, it's the only thing that was injected into me." Logan said.

"That you know of." Scott stated, a little snappishly.

"Until we figure out what exactly happened, I'm afraid you're going to have to stay down here." Xavier said.

"Yeah, yeah." Logan agreed with a wave of his hand.

Scott magnified the microscope's zoom. Was there…there was something there! Faint, but definitely there. "This, uh, this wasn't here before." he alerted.

"What?" Logan asked.

"It almost looks like rabies." he said.

"I have rabies?" Logan asked, surprised.

"I said it almost looks like rabies. Rabies doesn't show up in blood, so it can't be. But…the structure is almost identical."

"Someone engineered mutant rabies? Oh, terrific!" Logan snapped grumpily.

"But it wasn't there before." Xavier said.

"No, there was nothing!" he said, swapping out Logan's blood for Mystique's. "What? How can her's be positive?"

Another swap showed Pyro's previously clean blood was also tainted.

"This can't be our main concern right now. I killed the President! Okay, he's dead! For real! You guys need to leave the country, because this is only gonna get messier and messier." Logan urged.

"We're not leaving anyone behind, okay? Not again." he said, involuntarily flashing back to Jean's sacrifice for the briefest of moments.

Logan started laughing, staring at the door. "You're all gonna die in here." he said to them, seeing his eyes had become disgustingly bloodshot. Scott looked to the door, where _another_ Logan was peering through the window, trying in vain to get inside the locked door.

* * *

><p>AN: Next up, we get some action! There's three 'rabies'-infected mutants out there…


	19. Chapter 19: Red All Over

Chapter 19: Red All Over

(Cyclops)

"Open the damn door! the newly arrived Logan yelled, struggling against the door's locking mechanism.

The Logan in the room with them jumped from the table, right into Scott's path as he tried to get to the door. He pushed that Logan away, and opened the door. The real Logan smiled, his eyes flickering yellow, and smashed the door into Scott's face before shifting to a red-eyed Mystique. Scott stumbled back, looking to the two semi-rabid mutants. He was just about to remove his sunglasses when they both froze in an offensive stance.

He breathed out a discharge of adrenaline and looked to the Professor. "I'll tie them both up, and lock the door behind me. You should go get the others."

"Agreed." Xavier said with a small nod, then left. Scott awkwardly lifted the stiff bodies of the mutants, and tied Mystique to the table, double-knotting her restraints. He put Logan on the other table, on the opposite end of the room, and double-knotted his restraints as well, making sure his arms were pinned to his sides. Then, just to be extra-prepared, he secured leather straps across both their bodies, as well before leaving the room. He locked the door, and went upstairs so they could figure out what the hell was going on now.

(Storm)

"McKenna's dead?"

"So what are we supposed to do now?"

"Where do we go?"

"Will Logan be okay?"

"What about all those mutants we saved?"

Kitty's question quieted the room. It was something they didn't really want to think about. There were nearly a dozen of them, out and about in the surrounding towns and cities, and they could be killing people left and right.

"Should we keep a lookout for…for John?" Bobby asked.

"I don't think he'll be much of an issue. He could barely walk on his own." Storm said.

"Well, Mystique was shot in the leg, and that didn't stop her from kicking a door in my face." Scott said.

"I still can't believe she fooled us. She walked right past me, and I didn't look twice." she said.

"What matters is that she didn't hurt any of you." Xavier said.

"Why didn't she? She went straight down to you guys." Rogue said. Another excellent question…

"I know we're supposed to be he fearless heroes here, but I am freaking out! I mean, what the hell?! What are we gonna do? How do we go up against…all of this? The President, the soldiers and the cops, this rabies drug…we can't…it's too much!" Bobby freaked, his eyes wide in fear.

"Bobby, calm down." Rogue said, placing a gloved hand on his cheek.

"This isn't a calm situation!" Bobby yelled, pushing her away.

"Bobby!" Xavier yelled. Like full-on-voice raised-shouted. It stunned everyone, including Bobby, who faced the teacher, like he was about to be sent to the corner.

"I know you're scared, but it's okay. We all are. We're going to proceed with caution and take things one at a time, starting with the most important: the children's safety. It's not safe for them here anymore. With the President dead, no one can keep a strike team away. I think the safest place, for the time being, will be Erik's base. It's well hidden, and not many people know about it, like he said." the Professor proposed.

There was a moment of silence as everyone was thinking about the idea.

"What if Magneto's not there? What if he's dead, and Pyro killed him?" Kitty asked.

"How about this: we go there, but Storm and I will check the place out first. Make sure no homicidal kids are lurking around." Scott suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Storm agreed with a nod.

"Shouldn't someone stay here? You know, in case Logan or Mystique escape?" Rogue asked.

"There's no need. I'll keep mental tabs on them." Xavier said.

"Besides, if they get out of there, it means they'll have a nuke with them." Scott said.

It was already past eight o'clock, but they gathered everyone up, and again left their school for the _n_th time.

Mystique had used the Brotherhoods only car in her escape, so finding a recognizable area in the night took them a little longer than they'd like. To make it worse, the handicap van was ominously low on fuel, forcing the caravan to stop short. The timber looked only a bit familiar, and they hoped they weren't too far from the base.

Storm and Scott roamed around in the dark on foot, each wielding a flashlight.

"I've gotta tell ya, I've seen so many trees this week that I might never go outside again." Scott spoke, trying to get their minds on something other than being killed by a chainsaw-wielding murderer, or an axe murderer…or a teeny-tiny doll. It helped a little, but the hairs on Storm's neck were still on end, and it wasn't due to static electricity she might have accidently discharged.

"Could you imagine running into anything other than certain death out here? I've almost screamed three times already." she whispered, expecting the world's scariest clown butcher to jump out at them and yell 'BOO!" before carving up their bodies.

"I know. Where's the damn door already? It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack!" he said.

"I'm gonna have to ask John how he can find his way around this maze, but was never able to remember the difference between _who_ and _whom_." she said, still scanning the dirt and grass and leaves for any sign of the bunker.

They took a couple steps, and something ran by up ahead, making them stop in their tracks. They looked around with their flashlights, but couldn't see anything.

"Maybe it was a rabbit. Or a deer." Scott said, the tiniest bit of nervousness in his voice. Storm couldn't believe how fast her heart was hammering in her chest, and if it were physically possible, she was sure it would've burst from her chest.

"Yeah, it was just an animal." she said, failing to reassure herself, and shake images of movie serial killers, or a bloody, hulked out Pyro from her imagination.

They slowly continued forward, trying to replace unease with confidence. It must've been five whole minutes later before they spotted handles poking up from the ground, and they were both sure they went in a circle at some point. Scott opened the doors and they went down, one step at a time.

"Magneto? Are you down here?" she asked quietly. The bunker was darker than the forest, since they had no moonlight, and the creepy factor went up exponentially. A sudden crashing sound caused her to yelp like the scaredy cat girlfriend of the macho boyfriend in the beginning of pretty much every scary movie ever made.

Scott's flashlight found the fallen object: a shattered wine glass. "Magneto!" he hissed, searching for signs of the elderly mutant.

"Pyro, knock twice if you're down here." he said, half joking to try and calm herself. Two knocks were heard, clear as a bell, forcing her and Scott to stare at each other.

"I think I just peed a little." he said, sounding sincere. She would've smiled, or laughed, or _anything_, if she wasn't scared out of her wits. They continued forward through the kitchen and moved into a hallway, staring in shock at all the blood smears along the walls and the floor. Part of her just wanted to 'nope' right out of there, but she couldn't, she was better than that!

Her mouth became uncomfortably dry and she licked her lips, her tongue giving little moisture.

"This can't be a good sign." Scott said, stating the frighteningly obvious. Nevertheless, they followed the blood smears down the hall to a far door, and Scott readied his visor in case Pyro was inside. The metal door swung open, and they saw a slightly battered Magneto tied to a chair, gagged. Scott ran to help, and they heard a loud 'bang' behind them, making the floor shake. Storm (against all horror movie knowledge) went to investigate, and went back down the hall. She turned a corner and dropped her flashlight, face-to-face with a blood-red-eyed, faintly frothing at the mouth, Pyro.

_Oh shit_.

A/N: I was going to combine this chapter, and the next, but then it would have been really, really long, and I don't want to strain anybody's eyes.

A/N 2: No joke, when I was typing up the 'scary' part of Storm's segment, I heard the Nightmare on Elm Street theme play over my sister's TV…I might have freaked out inside…

A/N 3: Up next, we get the second 'half' of this chapter, involving what Magneto went through, and we get a scary chase sequence.


	20. Chapter 20: The Tip of the Iceberg

Chapter 20: The Tip of the Iceberg

(Magneto)

_He had been keeping an eye on the two bed-ridden, sleeping mutants for a couple hours. None of them woke, or even moved in their sleep. He went to get himself a new glass of water when he heard a noise, a thump, come from their room. He didn't bother to refill his glass, and moved down the hall quickly, hoping one of them was awake. He stopped in the doorway, surprised to see they were both on their feet._

_"__You're awake." he said, feeling relief. That is, until they both looked up at him, their eyes so red he thought they were hemorrhaging. He went to get them back in bed, when they charged him, both of them grabbing him, screaming. They pushed him to the ground and he reacted, throwing a metal chair in the room towards him, and in turn, towards them. He only managed to wing Pyro, who sprawled to the floor._

_He used the chair to push Mystique out of the room, and slammed the door shut, keeping it mentally locked. Her snarls and pounding fists were all he could hear from her, and he slowly pushed himself up. He edged towards Pyro body, who jumped up, head-butting him in the chin. The blow knocked him down again, and Pyro was on top of him, garbling. Pyro punched him, and the pounding on the door stopped, like Mystique knew Pyro had the situation under control._

_"__You're going to die tonight." Those were the only words Pyro said to him after another punch knocked out his strength, allowing him to be tied to the very chair he tried to use as a weapon. _

_"__Magneto?" a voice called, causing Pyro to growl (literally growl, like a wild animal!), and leave, shutting the door behind him._

* * *

><p>Never in his life had he been more relieved than now to be rescued, even if it was by the hands of the X-Men. Both Pyro and Mystique had tried to kill him, and he didn't want to think about how close Pyro was to finishing the job. If Storm and Cyclops arrived ten seconds later, Pyro would have killed him.<p>

He sure owed the two a 'thank you' after this. Scott untied him, and they heard sounds of a fight out in the hall.

"Storm!" Scott yelled, darting out of the room. Magneto hurried out into the dark hallway and smacked into his rescuer. He watched the beam from Scott's flashlight for only a couple seconds before needing to see more, so he flipped the light switch. It became grotesquely apparent that he was standing in blood, and he looked around at the smears and scratches along the walls.

"If this is her blood…" Magneto swallowed, not wanting to finish his sentence.

"No, it was here when we arrived. Thought it was yours." Scott whispered, finishing his sweep of the kitchen.

"Well, it isn't." he said as they opened the door to the bathroom. The bunker was eerily quiet.

"What, is it _his_?" Scott asked.

"Or Mystique's." he added, hoping it wasn't. He went over to his room and slowly opened the door, seeing Storm laying on his bed in full display.

"Storm!" Scott urged, trying to wake her as they checked the room for Pyro. Strangely, the young mutant was nowhere to be found.

Scott tried to rouse his comrade while Magneto kept an eye out for signs of movement, or shadows lurking in the hall.

"Okay, she's alive, she's breathing. We need to get her out of here." Scott alerted, scooping her into his arms. "Keep your eyes and ears open. If this drug can supercharge their physical strength, who knows what else it can do." he added, heading to the door.

"Scott, wait. I'll lead the way." he said, moving in front of the X-Man.

"Boy, do you have a lot to get caught up on." he heard Scott whisper.

"Then enlighten me." he replied just as quietly, looking down both ends of the adjoining hall.

"After we get out of here." the younger man replied. They moved into the kitchen, but the bunker doors were closed.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Scott said.

"Good. Trust your gut." Pyro said from behind them.

They turned around, facing the infected kid. He almost looked like he was sweating blood, it was just all over him! How he got that much on him in such a short amount of time was anyone's guess.

"You two really screwed up my plans." Pyro added, pointing an accusing finger at the X-Men.

"Plans? You had plans? Oh, sorry." Scott replied. Magneto looked over to the metal frying pan…constructed a while ago from an old piece of scrap metal, and hurtled it at Pyro without a second thought. The kitchen cookware flew through the air, striking the kid in the back of the head, and he fell to his knees. Pyro's less wounded hand grabbed the back of his head, coming back slightly bloody.

"Oh, you're gonna…" he started, but Scott fired an optic blast, knocking the recruit unconscious.

"Okay, go! Go!" Scott yelled, turning around with Magneto. They ran up the short stair case, and pushed against the doors, but they didn't give an inch.

"Okay, get back." Scott warned, focusing his visor.

"You're going to blow the doors open?" he asked in shock.

"Unless you want to be stuck in here when your crazy recruit wakes up." Scott countered, nodding to the unconscious form on the ground…that was gone.

"Oh my god he is pissing me off." Scott grumbled to himself.

"Where's Charles and the rest of your X-Men?" he asked while searching the area with his eyes.

"They're about three-quarters of a mile back. We couldn't exactly remember where this place was." Scott answered. The hallway lights turned off and they were immersed in darkness, the flashlight was still in the other room.

"Blast the doors!" he said, no longer caring about his base.

"Don't do that!" Pyro yelled, sounding close. Scott fired, obliterating the doors. They ran outside, barely able to see in the night.

"Follow me, and keep up! Don't you dare have a heart attack." Scott ordered, running. Magneto tried to keep pace, but he was lagging. He couldn't remember the last time he had to _run_ run for his life like this!

He could hear agile footsteps crunching behind him and he knew Pyro was gaining on him. Once he started to feel the heat Pyro radiated, he started to freak out, just internally though. He couldn't die like this. He couldn't be killed by a mutant, of all things!

The inevitable tackle happened with two yells, Pyro's of rage, and Magneto's of ten percent fear. They rolled around on the ground, and Pyro gained the upper hand, and pinned Magneto down. Frozen in place, Magneto was forced to look at his infected Brother. Blood was seeping down his skin like he had a blood bladder hooked up, and it was staining both their clothes.

"Pyro, please. You don't…you don't have to do this." he said, trying to get through to any shred of the young man he hoped was still somewhere in there.

"That's where you're wrong. I have to do this. You need to die, _you all do_." Pyro said, whispering the last part into his ear.

"No. Something was done to you in Manhattan. Mystique has it, too!" he said, continuing his useless struggles.

"Is that why you attacked her?" Pyro asked, straightening his body.

"No! She attacked me! I defended myself, and she ran off!" he replied.

"Ran off?" Pyro blinked, confused. "She's right here." he said, looking to his right.

Magneto looked, expecting the emptiness he was faced with. There was nobody there…no Mystique, no Scott, no X-Men…they were alone.

"There's nobody there, Pyro." he said.

"Liar!" Pyro snapped, grabbing fistfuls of Magneto's shirt and hauling him up so their faces were only inches apart. "Now isn't the time to try and worm your way out of this, Erik."

"Hey!" a familiar voice called. They looked, and Pyro was again blasted away by Scott.

"Sorry about that. I would've come back here sooner, but…" Scott started apologizing as he helped Magneto up.

"It's alright, just…help him." he interrupted, wishing he wasn't afraid of the mutant lying a couple feet away.

"We'll surely try, but first we need to ask a favor of you." Charles spoke, emerging from the shrubbery with what appeared to be the school's entire attendance.

* * *

><p>He listened intently as the previous day's events were described to him, starting with the visit to D.C., and ending with their current predicament.<p>

"These kids are part of our future. What kind of Brother would I be to refuse them?" Magneto asked, agreeing to their request for shelter. He lead them all back to the bunker, and both Storm's and Pyro's bodies were placed on the floor. Kitty led the kids away, and he was getting deja vu all of a sudden.

"Keep the lights off." he warned, remembering the blood all over the walls.

"From what I can tell, Storm'll be fine. Just has a bump on her head, probably from the struggle with him." Scott said, nodding to Pyro.

"Are you sure? I mean, what if this thing's passed by contact? Or blood? What if it's airborne?" Bobby asked.

"If it was airborne, we'd all be showing symptoms by now. And blood? It probably wouldn't hurt unless it got into your system. Even then, we just don't know enough about this thing. It may not even be contagious." Scott informed. Just then, Storm whimpered and her eyes fluttered open, clearly visible in the dimly-lit kitchen. Everyone crowded around her, asking a dozen of questions about how she was feeling until Scott yelled at everyone to back off and give her some space. Rogue retrieved a glass of water as Scott helped her into a chair. The water was sipped in silence as everyone watched her, wanting to know if she was alright.

"My head is pounding. What happened?" she finally asked.

"You don't remember?" he asked.

"I remember finding you in one of the back rooms. Then, I…" she paused, clearly beginning to remember. "I heard something, and found John. How is he?" she asked, looking down with concern at the boy.

"He'll be okay. Storm, did he say anything to you?" Charles asked.

She closed her eyes. "He hit me, took me into a room. He was strong…too strong. He said that this was only the beginning. Something else is happening, and it could bring us to our knees. He said they're turning mutants against each other, and that there's hundreds of them out there." she remembered.

"Maybe even thousands." Scott said, adding no positive outlook.

Magneto remembered the hallucination Pyro mentioned…how had he not connected it before? "You said Wolverine hallucinated before he killed the President?"

"Yes." Charles said.

"Pyro hallucinated, too. Maybe this has something to do with the brain. There could be something at your school, or that station in Manhattan we could find to fix them." he said.

"That's actually a good idea. I can't believe I agreed with you." Scott said, mumbling the last statement, but he clearly heard it.

Charles ordered the younger X-Men to stay put while the teachers, including the Brotherhood (plus an unconscious recruit) left, again returning to the school.

'_We need a teleporter_.' he thought to himself during the moderately long drive.

* * *

><p>"Alright, we need to be quick. This place could come under fire any minute." Scott warned as everyone entered the school. The medical bay was quickly reached and Pyro, still under, was restrained to another table they had to drag in.<p>

"About time you guys showed up. I was beginning to miss you." Logan said from his table. Mystique was on a similar table, also tied up and strapped down. She showed no concern for Pyro, and that concerned Magneto. He noticed Wolverine's eyes were the same awful color.

"So how do we counteract this? Pump them full of drugs?" Storm asked.

"No. The brain is the key, so we'll start there." Charles advised.

"Right on the nose. He's getting it." Mystique said, sharing a creepy smile with Wolverine.

"However, I doubt reading their minds will give us any answers." his dear friend continued.

"Uh oh, he's thinking." Wolverine said with a roll of his bloody eyes. He started laughing, which prompted Mystique to mock them in the same matter.

"We'll need a brain sample."

That shut them up.

* * *

><p>AN: Only a handful of chapters left, everyone! I'm sorry if this seems to be dragging on.

A/N 2: Next, which mutant gets their head cut into? Leave a guess, if you want to! Also, we get a flashback of Kitty's and Pete's Manhattan craziness.


	21. Chapter 21: The strength of ten

A/N: The italicized segment is a flashback.

Chapter 21: The strength of ten

(Mystique)

"Brain sample?" Magneto asked, shocked.

"Yes." Xavier replied, moving to a cabinet. She watched as he pulled out a very big needle.

"You have biopsy needles down here?" Magneto asked.

"We can handle almost any type of emergency down here." Scott said, handing a drill to Xavier. He also fragged a syringe and filled a bowl with alcohol.

"You guys can drill at me all day. It won't get you anywhere. Adamantium skull." Wolverine quipped.

"Guess that's why you're so hard headed." Mystique commented.

The two X-Men moved to her, causing Wolverine to laugh. "Ha! Should've kept your mouth shut, you stupid bitch." he snapped, looking satisfied with his outburst.

She glared at him, but that was all she could do at the moment, strapped down like this. It was actually a little kinky.

"What the hell are you smiling at?" Wolverine asked.

"That's for me to know." she said, not realizing she smiled at the kinky thought before looking up to Scott's and Xavier's upside down faces. "No way you're giving me a lobotomy. Do him." she said, looking to Pyro.

"No, we'll uh…we'll do you." Scott said with a small, sheepish curl of the lips.

"A three way, that's even kinkier." she smiled, looking at Xavier's visible discomfort. "I bet I can make you cum." she said, laughing.

"You're not going to laugh when they're cutting your head open." Storm said defensively.

"You're not going to be breathing." she countered, finally pulling her arm out from beneath one of the straps after nearly an hour of sweaty lubrication. In one move, she ripped the leather strap across her shoulders, and using her lovable flexibility, wormed out from the remaining straps while untying her other wrist. Scott moved towards her, but she kicked him in the face as Wolverine easily cut through the straps, only to be pinned by Magneto.

Scott stumbled over, and Magneto kept Storm back. Xavier did the same, and kept Scott from frying her.

"Mystique, listen to me. You're sick. We need to do this to help you." Xavier said.

he remained poised on the table, looking to Wolverine, then to Pyro.

"No. You're the ones that are sick! You piss on us, and whore your polluted DNA into us to kill off our potential. That's all going to change. she said, lunging at the two X-Men. Scott fired and sent her flying into Wolverine and his table. A sharp pain entered her gut as she fell to the ground, and she grunted, looking down at the biopsy needle stuck in her abdomen.

"Well that stings." she said, shakily pulling the tool out. She could feel her blood trailing down between her scales, but it didn't bother her. Why should it?

"You wanna know the plus side to this? Adrenaline rush, gives you the strength of ten." she said, forcefully pushing her stainless steel gurney into Scott. He fell, and she threw the needle at Xavier, the instrument ricocheting off the corner of the wheel chair's back.

'_Damn. Aim is off_.' she cursed herself, a scowl on her lips. Xavier stretched out an arm, the palm of his hand facing her, and a sharp pain manifested in her head; like a migraine times 1,000. She gasped and crumbled to her knees, pushing on the temples of her head with the heels of her hands. When she felt she was about to crush her skull between her hands, and like her brain was about to explode, she cried out in pain. She let them know they had won. The pain immediately ended, and she fell, barely able to push her body up.

" 'Strength of ten' my ass." Wolverine spoke up, but his voice was muffled from the ringing in her ears. Scott and Storm were before her, hesitant to haul her up.

"She won't bite." Xavier said. She wished she could, but she could barely even look up as she was picked up. She was again strapped down and tied up, and she looked to Pyro; still unconscious. He was weak, too weak to fight for her. An oxygen mask was placed over her mouth, but the oxygen didn't make her feel better. It only made her drowsy, and she passed out.

* * *

><p>(Kitty)<p>

While all the kids were in the other room, she, Rogue, Bobby, and Pete decided to tidy up the bunker. It looked like a small bomb had went off in there!

She and Pete were busy scrubbing away the dozens of blood smears along one hall, and in one of the rooms. She was working away in the room while Pete worked in the hall. Bobby and Rogue were fixing up the kitchen.

"Hey Pete?" she called, setting the rag down in the soapy bucket. Her friend quickly popped inside, still holding his pink-sudsy scrub brush.

"Yeah?"

"I never thanked you earlier…for saving my life."

_She and Pete had finally freed the last imprisoned mutant, and his black hair, eyes, and teeth made him look vampiric, demonic. Not that she was judging him, or even scared of him for that matter._

_"__So this is it." the mutant said, looking down the hall._

_"__Excuse me?" Kitty asked._

_"__Sixty seconds to live. Can't change that. I kind of don't want to. For what it's worth, thank you." the prisoner said._

_"__What are you…hey!" Pete yelled as the mutant ran off. They started to follow, but an armed guard appeared and aimed at them. They ran through him, and through the wall behind him, beating the threat. The darkness of running through concrete vanished and they found themselves facing more doors that looked like the cells they were at earlier, except most of them had dried blood on them._

_"__These must be the torture rooms." she whispered breathlessly. The gunfire had abated since they emerged from the wall._

_"__Come on, let's go back." Pete whispered, taking her back towards the wall. Something hit the floor behind them, rolling, and they turned around. So stupid!_

_"__Shut your…" Pete started, but the cylinder exploded. Disorientation rocked her to her core as she looked at the blast. It was like she looked into the sun while there was an earthquake, and a firecracker went off in her face. She clumsily fell to the floor, trying to blink the bluish-white splotch away from her sight. There was a persistent shine and ringing in her ears as she looked for Pete, but she couldn't find him. Why couldn't she see him!?_

_"__Pete?" she called, barely able to hear her own voice. Cold, strong, metallic hands hauled her to her feet and pushed her into a far corner. She gasped as her head hit the wall, just like the rest of her body. Was she so disoriented that she couldn't use her power? Was that even possible?_

_Pete's massive size (compared to her, anyway) completely blocked her view, which was slowly getting less engulfed by the blob of color. There was this tinny, _plink, plink, plink_sound, and she realized Pete was shielding her from gunfire. He waited until she was strong enough to pull them through the wall, and away from danger._

"I'd be…dead if it weren't for you." she said, embracing him in a hug.

"Hey. It's okay, Kitty. It'll be okay." he said, returning the hug. The two remained intertwined for a bit before she broke it off, giving him a small, appreciative smile.

"You don't need to thank me, Kitty. We're friends, we protect each other, like a reflex." he added. She nodded and returned to cleaning another blood trail on the floor. Pete returned to the hallway, and Kitty realized how chilly the place was getting due to the lack of front doors. She was pretty sure the kids would be okay in the other room, since it was sealed, plus the cumulative body heat in there should keep the room at a decent temperature until the sun rose.

After some more scrubbing, she was satisfied with the disappearance of the blood trail, and moved on to a third blood stain, getting a little closer to the door. She couldn't imagine what happened in here to account for all the blood. Both Pyro and Magneto were pretty banged up, they easily could have made this mess. She sighed and looked up from the floor, wondering about what her teachers, the rest of the team, were up to. She was starting to feel inadequate. Yes, she was scared for her life back in Manhattan, but at least she was making a difference! Now, here she was, cleaning the _Brotherhood's _messes. While she did feel empathy for what the three were going through, she couldn't quiet the voice in the back of her head telling her they deserved it.

'_Stop thinking like that, Katherine. Little things like this will help when things go back to normal. They'll appreciate it, even if we are enemies_.' she thought with a shake of her head. But if she was to be honest with herself, she wasn't certain things could go back to normal. The President would still be dead, killed by a mutant. The truce would still be undone, broken by a mutant. The world was growing more and more afraid of mutants, and people are persistent creatures…she didn't think they would stop until everyone possessing the X-gene was slaughtered, their bodies turned to ash.

* * *

><p>AN: Let's see…a preview of the next chapter is in order! An infected mutant escapes the X-Men's clutches, ready to wreak havoc.


	22. Chapter 22: Blast from the Past

Chapter 22: Blast from the Past

(Wolverine)

As long as Mr. Metal Controller was pinning him to the stupid table so he couldn't move anything except for his eyes and lips, he planned on annoying the crap out of everyone in the room. After all, they were preventing him from carrying out his kill orders! He had places to go, people to shish-kabob!

"So…we're all here. Just like we were five minutes ago. Hey, Baldy, how's your little brain surgery going?" he asked, barely able to see the shiny bald head at this angle. Again, he was answered with silence…a big, steamy pile of nothin'. "You guys! You're really hurting my feelings."

Again, the only answer he got was the growing anger inside him. He wanted out of here, and he wanted out _now_. "You guys aren't even my targets, alright? Just let me go, and I'll leave you to play Operation on the Brotherhood lackeys. Sound good?" he asked, looking at Magneto and Storm. The two ignored him, barely making eye contact. "I'm sensing a theme here."

"I've got the sample." Xavier said calmly as he held the needle steady.

"Give me two seconds to finish stitching her stomach wound and I'll take a look at the sample under the scope." Scott replied, working. Wolverine cleared his throat obnoxiously loud, then fake yawned.

"Is this boring you?" Magneto asked.

"A bit, yeah. You're not gonna see anything in her damn brain. You're chasing a red herring." he said.

"We'll just see for ourselves." Scott said, taking the sample to the microscope.

He could hear the beating of Scott's heart grow faster, and he knew that Scott knew that would he had just told them was correct.

"There's nothing here! The tissue's perfectly normal!" Scott groaned in frustration.

"I'd say 'I told you so', but I've never been one to brag. Wait, yes I am! I told you so." he said, smirking.

"So you're saying you know about this drug control? You know about its effects on your bodies?" Storm asked.

"What are you getting at?" he asked.

"What she's saying is that your mind is the key, figuratively and literally. It's all in your head. These delusions, the hallucinations, you can stop it." Baldy said.

"Why don't you come in here, see if you can beat it then." he challenged.

"Maybe…I…just…will." his challenger said, getting closer. There were a couple gasps as one of Xavier's hands enveloped Wolverine's face, and they both grimaced at the mind invasion.

Xavier could feel everything that Wolverine was, and he pushed it, tracing the mutant's history backwards until he got to the point of infection. From there, he focused on the drug itself, studied its appearance. Gathering all he could, he pushed the connection farther, following the guard that infected Wolverine until he found the distribution source of the drug.

Something snapped in Wolverine's mind, and the connection ended, keeping their minds separate.

"What the hell was that?" Wolverine asked, breathing deeply. He had no clue what the old man saw or heard in his noggin.

"The company that manufactures the drug is a pharmaceutical industry known as Worthington Labs. All I was able to gather on the drug's effects was this: it turns mutants into killers, using auditory and visual hallucinations to get them to go after specific targets." Xavier announced.

"Good, you figured it out, now can you please let me go?" Wolverine asked.

"Like that's happening any time soon." Scott replied.

"Come on, I said 'please'." he groaned, wishing he could wiggle out of Magneto's mental clutches.

He heard a quiet storm of footsteps, and he looked up at the ceiling. Soldiers, or SWAT, based on the orders he could hear being barked around.

"Looks like I was right. You are going to die in here." he said, hearing the elevator descend.

"What are…" Xavier started, but abruptly cut himself off and looked at the door.

"I'd say you have ten seconds before they blow that door open. What are you going to do about those poor Brotherhood bastards, huh? Let me out, and I'll hold them off, then I'll get out of your hair. Come on, it'll be easy." he said, looking to each conscious mutant. The invisible pressure on him vanished and he leapt to his feet. "Thanks, bub." he said, winking at Magneto.

He quickly left the room, closing the door behind him, and immediately went to the elevator, where he ran into a dozen Special Weapons And Tactics agents. His hands went up in the air just as the last as their guns focused on him.

"Woah! Woah, hey, I am not the enemy here. I'm one of the infected. Look at my eyes." he said, remaining perfectly still. One of the men closest to him cautiously stepped forward and confirmed it.

"Okay, you can go." another man, possibly the commander of the squad said.

"Before I do, there's six mutants in the far room. The two strapped down are like me, so don't kill 'em." he said, and weaved through to the elevator. The men left, and as the elevator doors started closing, he heard a loud bang, followed by the all-too-familiar sound of guns firing.

The elevator rose to the ground floor, its doors opened, and after a couple dozen yards of floor, he stepped outside. He was free – free to carry out his orders. He hijacked one of the SWAT vans, and drove to Manhattan to carry out his next kill order, the Captain of the NYPD. He wasn't sure if he was going up against a mutant, or just a pro-mutant person, but either way, he was going to fight.

* * *

><p>By the time he reached his destination, the sun had passed its apex and was in the process of its slow descent. The city was crawling with cops, and littered with roadblocks and inspection checkpoints. Before he could pull into the NYPD's parking lot, he was forced to go through one of the inspections.<p>

'_Great_.' he grumbled internally, putting the car in neutral.

"I'm on your side!" he protested as he got out of the stolen vehicle.

"It's protocol. Every car gets checked out. Cops, feds, hell, even the President." the police officer replied, ushering him to the side of the road. He inspected every nook and cranny, internal and external, before he was pleased with his work. "Alright, you're clear."

"Thank you." Wolverine sneered, getting back in the SWAT van. They had no idea who he was here to kill…

He pulled into the parking lot, getting the occasional lingering look from officers unaccustomed to the special drug and its effect on a mutant's appearance.

When he took half a step inside the building, he could smell blood, and sweat…cleaning supplies, and a faint sulfuric aroma.

"Can I help you?" the receptionist asked. When he turned to her, she flinched a little at his appearance. "I remember you. You were…you have that drug."

"I need to see the Captain. I have news he needs to hear." he said, looking down to the holding cells.

"I'll let him know you…" she started, but stopped when he moved over to the cells. There was something he could feel, like someone was watching him. There were only two people inside, a sleeping homeless woman, and a heavily tattooed crook.

"Dude, nice contacts." the crook said with a nod. The receptionist came over, and lead Wolverine away.

"You shouldn't wander around, especially in your…condition." she advised. He sort of ignored here, feeling _drawn_ to those damn cells.

"The Captain will be right down."

"Um…Is there a restroom I can use?" he asked.

"Oh, right down the hall, there." she said, pointing away with a smile.

He hurried into the men's room, feeling sick. Something was…off. He couldn't really describe it any better. He could feel something at the holding cells, an inhuman something. It made him feel cold, and sick. A man was washing his hands and looked up at his entrance, jumping.

"They're just contacts." he said, waving it off as he turned on a sink. The man didn't reply, but hastily dried his hands before getting out of that bathroom. Wolverine looked at his reflection, squinting. There was something next to him, a vague, transparent distortion. He looked to his right, and nothing was visibly there. But he could sense it, smell it. It was…familiar.

The center of his shirt bunched together, like an invisible fist had clenched it. And he could feel it. He instinctively slashed out, slicing through air, and only air.

"Woah, easy tiger." a voice said from behind him, and he spun around, confused.

"Mark?"

"Howdy." Mark smiled, giving him a small wave. His body was riddled with bullet holes, and he was covered in blood.

"What is this?" Wolverine asked.

"Call it an intervention…of sorts." Mark said, looking behind him. Two figures emerged, and his stomach tightened. William Stryker, dripping wet, slightly bloated; and Jean. She was just as beautiful as ever. She didn't look dead, she looked…normal.

"This is a hallucination." Wolverine said.

"Got that right." Mark said.

"Fragments of my drugged up mind. So, what? You gonna scare me into submission?" he asked, unable to shake his nausea.

"Definitely." Stryker said, his voice crystal clear.

"Why the hell do you care? I killed your sorry ass." he snapped.

Stryker made sickening squishy sounds as he stepped forward. "Yes, you did. And I'll be damned if I can't stop you from killing everyone else on this planet."

"What? Everyone? No way. I have my orders, and nowhere does it say 'everybody'." he defended.

"Logan, please, we're trying to help you. You can stop this!" Jean pleaded. He turned around, refusing to believe them.

"You're just part of my old life, all three of you. You're just my subconscious desperately grasping at straws to hold me back from my potential. I need to kill my targets, don't you understand? Then I can be purified."

"Purified? Listen to yourself, that's the drug talking. It's messing with your mind!" Mark said, pointing to his own for emphasis. Not that Wolverine saw with his back turned.

"Come on, Logan." Jean said, appearing in front of him. "You know this isn't you. You're not the kind of person that kills innocents and puts their friends in danger."

He stared at her and scrunched up his face. "Why are you not post-dead-looking?" he asked, wanting to change the subject.

She smiled, locking eyes with him for the first time since she appeared. But she didn't answer his fucking question!

"Let's get this over with." Stryker interrupted.

Wolverine faced him. "What are you gonna do, Squishy? You should be ecstatic for this! Mutant kind is getting hunted down and enslaved. Wasn't that, like, the one goal in your pathetic life?"

"Yes, but, the drug has flaws, like mine did. You killed the President, its affecting the status quo." Stryker explained.

"All the whispers I heard in my days in that holding cell, they finally make sense. Drugs aren't perfect, and this one is no exception. People were worried that certain emotional triggers could break the drug's influence." Mark explained.

"So, seeing you guys all dead like this? This is an emotional trigger? Sorry, not working." Wolverine said.

"Brains can be fragile things, you know. Force it to analyze something so brutal, and it just might crack." Stryker said, looking at Mark. Wolverine also turned his head, and Mark collapsed, blood leaking profusely out of every single hole in his body. Wolverine watched as the young mutant choked on his own blood, while simultaneously bleeding to death until the mutant's struggles died out, and he simply laid there in his own blood.

"This is for the best, Logan." Jean said, forcing his attention to her. Stryker came up behind Jean, wrapped his decayed hands around her head and neck, and violently snapped her head to the left and let her body drop. Wolverine looked at the two bodies, then at Stryker, who gave him a shit-eating grin before vanishing before his eyes.

There was nothing to distract him from the two bodies, even though he knew they weren't real. But there was this nagging feeling…what if Mark really was dead? What if he didn't make it out of Manhattan like he presumed? And then there was Jean…witnessing her death once was enough to last him several lifetimes, but again?

His legs buckled, forcing him to his knees. He was weak. Weak, weak, weak. That's all his mind could process. He wanted to get up, to fill out his next kill order, but…something was…

He reached a hand out, caressing Jean's cheek. Her skin was still warm.

Warm? But she couldn't be…

He shook his head, and it felt like a wall collapsed inside his mind. The bodies vanished, and his vision got cloudy from the tears spilling out of his eyes. He took several deep breaths, and finally let out a strangled sob. Everything he said and did while drugged was flooding his mind, and for a second, he wanted the onrush of memories and emotions to kill him. Fuck it all, fuck the world, he wanted to roll over and die.

But he didn't die. He didn't even come close.

He laid there, sobbing on the cold floor, and he knew that everyone back in Westchester was in trouble. He threw a SWAT kill team at them without a car in the world. He knew the Professor was strong, but could they have made it out? All of them?

He knew he had to go back, to try and rectify his mistakes. There had to be some way he could fix it all. So, with his mind settled on a goal he resorted to all on his own, he left the bathroom, brushed past the receptionist and the Captain, returned to the stolen vehicle, and sped back to the city he never thought of as home until just now.

* * *

><p>AN: Let me think…next chapter, the X-Men and Brotherhood are in peril again, imprisoned and isolated.


	23. Chapter 23: From Sheep to Shepherd

Chapter 23: From Sheep to Shepherd

(Pyro)

As he slowly came around, his entire body, every muscle, ached with pain. Breathing, and even thinking seemed impossible from the constant aches. He blinked a lot, and eventually tried his luck to sit up. The rise slammed him with a massive head rush, and after some more blinking and deep breathing, he realized he was on a bed, _their_ bed. As in the one he and Mystique shared. But a look around the room shot down his hopes of being home. This place looked nothing like the bunker. There was a window in the door, and the floor was tiled, and there was a closet, and a bureau.

"What the…?" he asked aloud, slowly getting to his feet.

"Don't you like it?" Mystique asked, suddenly wrapping her arms around his waist from behind.

"What's going on?" he asked, trying to remember where they were. Everything after being led to safety by Bobby that night was a blank.

"Don't you remember? You were so close to killing Magneto, but we were captured by the X-Men. They…did things to us, Pyro." she said, moving to sit next to him. He shook his head at her, the memories still unreachable. "Take a look in the mirror." she advised, smiling empathetically.

He advanced to the mirror on the bureau, his eyes widening at his appearance. The dried blood, the fresh blood, the dark bruises everywhere, all the cuts and punctures on his arms…what did he do, pick a fight with Wolverine?

"Wh…why would they do this? How could they?" he asked as he faced Mystique.

"They want you dead, just like Magneto. They all think we're too dangerous."

Then he noticed she had some old wounds as well. She came up to him, and kissed him hard. "Pyro. I'm pregnant. I told Magneto, and that's why he attacked me." she said, guiding his hand to trace three stab wounds on her stomach. His fingers were red, and he gasped.

"Baby, lie down. You're bleeding!" he said, guiding her down to their bed.

"So are you, courtesy of our boss. Pyro, please, you have to stop him. Kill him, for our baby." she begged as more blood traveled down her stomach.

He needed to find a first aid kit, and searched everywhere for one, but the room had no supplies. He hurriedly removed one of the pillow slips and used it to make a shitty tourniquet.

"I'll be okay, really. You just need to do this one thing for us. Magneto's outside those doors, locked up by our SWAT allies. You kill him, and we can be free. No one can come after us." she whispered, caressing the back of his neck. He held her other hand between his own.

"I'll come back for you. Don't you dare die on me." he said, placing her hand on the pillow slip. He reached into his pockets, but couldn't find his damn lighter inside.

"You don't need it. You're stronger than him, faster, smarter. He's powerless against you." Mystique reassured. He nodded and ran out of the room, faced with three directions to go: left, right, or straight. Without debating, he chose straight ahead, down the blindingly-bright-white hall with off-white doors and black door knobs. He tried a couple doors, but they were all locked, and none of them had windows. He continued down the hall regardless, eager to end Magneto's life.

"Pyro, stop!" Mystique suddenly yelled. He turned around. "Don't go that way. He's not _that way_." she yelled, sounding scared.

"You shouldn't be out here." he replied loudly, moving closer to her.

"I'm okay." she said, grunting as she applied pressure to her stomach.

"I don't care if you think you're okay, you're not. Please get back in bed." he insisted, finally reaching up to her. She smiled at him, and turned away. He watched her until she climbed into bed, and he closed the door, not wanting anyone to disturb her. If he found a doctor or anyone, he'd tell them where she was. He looked back behind him, back down the hall. Whatever was down there, it scared Mystique more than Magneto. He ran back down the hall as fast as he could, which was surprisingly quick given his injuries, but whatever. He tried ignoring Mystique's warning, how she insisted he not go this way.

The hall seemed to stretch on and on; he felt like he had been running for miles, and still had miles ahead of him. He bent forward, panting from the exertion, and when he looked up, he saw a door that was open, just a crack. He jogged up to it, panting, and pushed it open, staring in confusion at an unconscious Mystique lying in a hospital-like bed.

"What the hell?" he asked, stepping inside.

"They're trying to confuse you." Mystique said, suddenly behind him. "Xavier's probably in your head, making you see things. That unconscious Mystique, that unconscious _me_, it's not real."

"But…I thought they were captured." he said, looking between each Mystique. The unconscious one had a patched up wound on her stomach, and other injuries he couldn't remember her receiving.

"They're smart. Powerful. Don't let them get the best of you, babe." she said as he faced her, still holding the pillow slip to her stomach.

He gently took her arm and lead her away. "Come on, let's get the bastards." he said, smiling. She took him down the hall to the right of their room, limping, but surprisingly fast, until they got to a heavy wooden door.

"He's in there." she said.

"Is it locked?" he asked.

She turned and kicked the door in with one blow. "Not anymore."

He flexed his fingers, readying himself before he stepped in the room. Magneto looked up at him from the corner, and terror easily overpowered the older man's face as the color drained out.

"Please, you don't…" Magneto started, raising his arms to shield himself. A switch in Pyro's brain flipped, like an 'objective completed' checkpoint in a video game.

"I _am_ going to kill you. You're my target, Magneto. Did you really think I'd let you live after you attacked Mystique? Stabbing her to kill our…our baby?" he asked.

"What are you talking about, Pyro? Mystique, she's not pregnant." the elderly mutant rambled, trying to make excuses behind his fragile arm shield.

"Liar! You can't stop me. There's _nothing_ you can do against me. I have to do this, you're on my list." he seethed, grabbing the man's arms and pinning them to his sides.

"Please, wait, listen! Something's different this time, you're different! The Mystique you're seeing, she's not real. You have to believe me!" Magneto pleaded as Pyro pushed him against the wall.

"Yeah, of course I'm different. I'm better than you, I'm stronger than you, and I will beat you." he said, and punched the mutant in the stomach. Magneto tried to double over, coughing, but Pyro wouldn't let him. After a few satisfying blows to the face, he released Magneto, who crumpled to the floor, bleeding and wheezing.

"You can beat his, take control!" Magneto moaned.

"I am taking control." he replied and kicked Magneto in the ribs.

"Kill him! Do it now!" Mystique cheered, watching from the door. Magneto weakly rose to his feet, but made no move to attack.

"I almost feel sorry for you." Pyro said, chuckling. "Tell you what, I'll give you one free shot. Come on, hit me!" he said, holding his arms out to his sides. Magneto hesitated, but took a couple stumbled steps towards him. "You'll thank me for this."

Pyro watched as he reared his arm back, and he cocked his head to the side. "Make it good, 'cause it's all you're gonna get." he said, feeling an inner strength. He was expecting a punch to the face or stomach, but he got struck in the throat, which he was completely unprepared for. One hand immediately shot up to his neck as he coughed and gasped, falling down.

"You really will." Magneto said, continuing his previous statement right before he got kicked in the face. A well of pain spread across Pyro's nose, and he pinched the tender cartilage bridge. He breathed through his mouth loudly as he looked up.

"What? Breaking my…nose once…wasn't enough?" he wheezed.

"No, Pyro I didn't break it the first time. That human scumbag who tortured you did! Don't you remember?" Magneto asked.

Mystique knelt beside Pyro, whispering encouragements into his ear. He turned his attention to her, but she looked…fainter. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing's wrong. Please, you have to kill him. Remember why you're doing this. Don't let him win." she said, placing his hand on her own, applying pressure to her stomach. Images started flashing in his head and his struggle to catch his breath lessened. There was something important about a police station in Manhattan…did he spend time there?

Magneto knelt down on the ground, looking into Pyro's red eyes. "Remember Manhattan? You were trapped there for three days, tortured to the brink of death!" Magneto said, and dug his thumb into one of the semi-healed puncture wounds on his arm. He groaned in pain, glaring at Magneto, and pushed him away as another group of images resurfaced in his mind. He could remember…he was cuffed to a chair while another man, who had the cruelest glasses-framed eyes hammered nails into his arm, and stabbed him with knives and icepicks, and cut him with pieces of broken glass. He remembered the smell of blood, the amount of it covering him, and how much the man enjoyed torturing him. He could remember being asked repeatedly to give up Magneto and Mystique, but he always refused, no matter how the man decided to hurt him next. He even started feeling the same fear h felt back there, and he remembered that night, and every night that followed in his cell, and his sub-human, sub-_mutant_ cell mate.

He looked back to Mystique, starting to realize that she wasn't real, but it still surprised him when he saw she had vanished. He turned his gaze, remembering how he had violently attacked Magneto, and nearly killed him. His face softened, and the look on Magneto's face should wary relief.

"Are you…you?" Magneto asked. He slowly nodded, glancing at the door.

"How did you know…to fix me like that?" he asked, putting a hand to his broken nose in an attempt to hide the tears that burned his eyes. The onslaught of memories was getting to be too much!

"Honestly? I had a hunch. Tried to see if a sense of de ja vu could get you to snap out of this." Magneto said, getting to his feet. Pyro copied him and they peered down the hall in both directions.

"So, where are we?" he asked, hoping Magneto would know.

"D.C… Maximum security holding facility." Magneto replied, following Pyro into the hall.

"Well where's the security?" he asked, noting the absence of other people as he rubbed his throat.

"I'm not sure." Magneto replied.

"Mystique's back this way." Pyro said, running back the way he came. He stopped at the room he awoke in, and looked inside. There were no curtains or windows, no tile floor, no bureau…not even a bed. Just a concrete floor and a cot, along with some bloody handprints and smears.

"What is it?" Magneto asked, catching up to him.

"It's…nothing." he replied, looking down at his somehow bloody hands. He looked down the hall across from his room and spotted the open door. The trip to said door was much faster than the previous, and the two found Mystique, still unconscious in the bed.

"We need to wake her, but she's infected with the drug, too. We need to do whatever it takes to break the drug's hold on her. Can you do that?" Magneto asked. He nodded, and Magneto started towards the bed, making Pyro feel nauseous. His vision blurred over, and he started to sweat and sway.

"Uh oh…" he mumbled.

"What?" Magneto asked, turning around.

"I think I'm about to pass…" and he collapsed, the world growing dark.

* * *

><p>(Magneto)<p>

Pyro hit the ground like a brick and was out like a light. Thinking ahead, the older mutant blockaded the door with a chair for temporary fortification and knocked out the surveillance camera with a mental ease he couldn't use on his cell's wooden door. Now all he had to do was wake Mystique and get her free from this drug…all by himself.

* * *

><p>AN: This story's almost finished, guys.

A/N 2: Next chapter, Magneto tries to help Mystique.


	24. Chapter 24: From Sheep to Shepherd, 2

Chapter 24: From Sheep to Shepherd, part two

(Magneto)

After searching through the cabinets to find everything he needed for his 'master plan', he proceeded to set it up. There was a sedative concealed in his robes for emergency (or failure), and a scalpel to defend himself if it came to that. He also found a vile of Epinephrine, which he knew was commonly called adrenaline, and filled a fraction of a syringe with it. He stuck it in Mystique's arm and pushed on the plunger. Her heart rate monitor beeped more rapidly for a couple seconds before her eyes snapped open.

"You!" she snapped, trying to sit up.

"You should really lie back. You were stabbed very recently." he said, unmoving.

"You're supposed to be locked up. They said you were locked up." she said.

"I had some help." he said. She looked around and spotted Pyro collapsed on the ground.

"Him? He helped you? That's hilarious. He can barely function on his own."

Her cold-hearted attitude towards her boyfriend never ceased to creep him out.

"Did you know he was raped in that prison? He means nothing to me now, so if he has some kind of death wish helping you, then that's really none of my concern." she said.

His mind felt like it screeched to a halt. Pyro, raped? No…that couldn't be possible!

"You can do whatever you want to me, Erik. You're nothing but a selfish, New Age Hitler." Mystique said.

"I…I won't be doing anything to you. Not unless it's absolutely necessary. See, Pyro's free from the drug. I freed him by making him remember what he went through in Manhattan. I plan on saving you too, My dear." he said. She snarled and threw the blankets off her bed, and as she got to her feet, he crouched by Pyro and slashed his left wrist with the scalpel. The boy moaned and flinched at the impact, stirring.

"Why would you cut _him_?" Mystique asked, hunched over slightly.

"He's my ticket in. Your love for each other has survived so much recently, I refuse to believe that he means nothing to you under the drug's spell." he said, looking at the blood pooling on the floor. He prayed she would break through…they didn't have much time. She remained where she stood, looking between the two mutants and the blood.

"If he dies, he dies. I don't care." she said. While she sounded sincere, she looked worried.

"The pain's bringing him around, Mystique, and he'll start to panic. He'll only bleed out faster." he said. She turned her attention to him, scanning him.

"He did that to your face? Guess he's able to function enough to give you a good beat-down."

"He's dying, Mystique, just like he was when you risked your own life to save him in that torture room." he said and took a wary step towards her.

"Just proves he's weak." she said, looking back at the slowly spreading blood pool.

"No, it means he's strong! He never gave an inch down there! Please, you must remember what happened in that room. You were shot, drugged!" he said, taking another step forward. "You told me what that _homo sapien_ did to you! He forced you to watch as Pyro was dragged around, barely conscious. You were drowned!"

She blinked at the last words, and turned away to her left.

"You almost died trying to save him, and now he's dying to save you! And you still think he means nothing to you?" he asked, shouting.

"He means nothing!" she snapped, her voice shaky. At that moment, Pyro's eyes snapped open, but he didn't move, he just looked at Mystique. Magneto crouched down by Pyro and grabbed the other wrist, ignoring the wince he heard.

"Maybe I should cut his other wrist then, since he means so little to you." he said, hoping he was hiding his fear well enough as he placed the blade on Pyro's other wrist. Pyro, though confused and scared, seemed to understand what Magneto was doing.

"Baby please, he will! Do you really want me to die?" the young mutant asked. Mystique's eyes were still focused on them, and still red, but the intensity was much less vibrant.

"My dear, please come back to us. We need you." Magneto said, his gut feeling telling him the plan was working.

"Mystique, please, we both need you. We both love you! Besides, who's going to nag me about eating ice cream every night if you're here being some killer?" Pyro asked. Magneto pressed the blade into Pyro's other wrist, starting to make it bleed, but remained slow as he flat out prayed Mystique would come through. Mystique's eyes closed and she put her hands over them, pushing hard.

"Come back." he whispered, and tossed the scalpel aside. Pyro put his right hand over his left wrist and scooted into a sitting position as Mystique lowered her hands, her yellow eyes showing she was herself again.

"Oh my god." she whispered, pulling the pillow case from her bed. In a fraction of a second, she was kneeling in front of them, turning the cloth into a tourniquet. The couple hugged, both wincing, but whispering their vows of love to one another. Before Magneto could get to his feet, he was hugged by the shape shifter as well, thanking him. He helped the two to their feet and led them botyh to the bed, both of them sitting down.

"Just what I need…another scar." Pyro said, lying on his back.

"I'm sorry I had to go that far." he said, looking down.

"Don't be. You brought us back. You have…nothing to be sorry for." Pyro breathed, closing his eyes as if he was about to go to sleep, which earned a light kick from Mystique.

"Hey, no sleeping. Not yet."

"Hmm? I'm up." Pyro said, slowly sitting up, as if it was extremely difficult.

"We need to move. Charles and the others are still here, we need to get them before they're drugged as well." Magneto said, pulling the chair away from its wedged position.

"Do you think you can walk?" he asked as he faced the two.

"Yeah. You cut my wrist, not my Achilles." Pyro said, sliding to his feet. He swayed a bit at first, but gained his footing. Mystique also stood up, putting a hand over her stitches.

"How'd you get that?" Pyro asked.

"Tell you later. Just want to get out of here." she replied.

The three of them left the room and advanced back to where he was locked up.

"Okay, which doors?" Mystique asked.

"Check them all, I guess." Pyro said. Magneto opened the one across from his cell, where a guard was sitting on a stool, and opened fire. He put up an invisible shield immediately and closed the door. "Don't check them all. Let me take care of them." he said, knowing he deflected the bullets into the man's brain. After three more rooms, two of which had guards, and the third being really empty, he finally found Storm, who assured them she wasn't drugged. Two rooms later, they found Scott, and finally, Charles at the end of the hall. They were all fine, just concerned.

They entered another room, and an alarm went off, red lights flashing everywhere.

"This isn't good." Scott said, leading the way down the room. They heard shouts from behind the door they were nearing, and gunfire bursted randomly. They flinched, adrenaline coursing through their veins, but no attempts at restraining them were made; in fact, the door didn't open. Someone yelled about a perimeter breach, and after a scream, there was only silence. A body was flung through the doors towards them, the gun still firing at the 'breach'. They cautiously moved on, seeing a dozen bodies on the ground of the next room. There was no visible trauma on any of them, but they were most definitely dead.

A long moment of shocked silence passed between the mutants as they observed the damage. What had caused this? A mutant? A virus? A radioactive agent pumped through the vents?

This could either be very good, or very bad…

* * *

><p>AN: Final chapter next, which brings some allusions to X-Men: The Last Stand!


	25. Chapter 25: Sins of our hand

Chapter 25: Sins of our hand

(Vice President of the United Stated)

He entered the office of Warren Worthington II at Worthington Labs, demanding answers for why the mutant-containment bases were more or less getting wiped off the face of the Earth, suffering inexplicable implosions.

"I want to know what's going on there. Why are only our men getting killed? Not a single mutant's body has been recovered. These are not the results you promised, Warren!" he barked, crossing his arms.

"I honestly don't know, Mr. Vice President." the scientist said.

"It's Mr. President, now. I got promoted in the wake of McKenna's untimely demise." he corrected, uncrossing his arms and placing his hands on his hips. "You told me that if we infected every mutant we captured, we could turn the tide. We'd pit the mutants against each other. Instead, we've lost 90% of our infected manpower, cured or killed. Nearly all of our strongholds suffered the same implosions, with only our men being harmed. There had to be some mutant organization behind this!" he said.

"Sir, we tried to trace the source of the electromagnetic frequency left behind at the bases, but all we got was Alkali Lake. All that's there is a flooded military base, a broken dam, and hundreds of acers of forest. It doesn't make any sense." Warren said, rubbing his tires eyes as he squinted at the monitor.

The recently promoted President sighed, examining the screen as well. "How is our other project coming along?"

"Ah, that one seems much more promising. Here, let me introduce you to our cleansing agent." Warren said, typing away. Video feed appeared, replacing the map of Alkali Lake, and a young, bald boy was seen talking to one of the doctors employed here.

"Meet Jimmy, the source of the mutant cure." Warren said, leaning back in his seat. The President observed the footage curiously, watching the boy's every move.

"What makes him so special?" he asked.

"Well, it appears he has the ability to cancel out other mutants' abilities just by being near them. It seems to radiate off him."

"So…the cure for mutation comes from a mutant?" he asked.

"Yes, believe it or not. We've only just begun running tests to develop the cure, but it's the closest we've ever come. I think we could actually cure them, Sir."

Oh, the sweet, sweet irony.

* * *

><p>(Wolverine)<p>

After hours of driving like a madman to escape that hell, they were again, home. Seeing as how no one shot out his tires as he pulled in, he assumed the coast was clear. He couldn't hear, or smell any unwanted guests, either. No stench of death welcomed him either, thank god.

'_Where did they take you guys? Manhattan's out, so where are you?_' he thought, looking around.

"The kids must be at Magneto's still." he thought aloud, jumping into the car. He squealed his tires as he peeled backwards, and down the road. He hoped his memory was serving him right as he turned slowly into the forest and slowly navigated through the trees. He slowed to a stop as he came across a warped piece of metal, recognizing the large wreck as the doors to the Brotherhood's underground base once he spotted the handles. His heart started to beat faster as he looked around, thinking about what could've caused the damage. He remembered Pyro was infected in the base, he easily could've burned through the door…but how did it get all the way out here?

His thoughts were interrupted as he heard giggling, little kids laughing. He got in the car and rolled down the window, following the sound. Imagine his relief when he saw the students playing outside, under supervision of the older students, of course. His car was stared at warily until he got out, and the wary looks became smiles.

"Logan!" Rogue greeted, starting to run forward, but was suddenly held in place by her boyfriend.

"It's okay. It's really me." he said, holding his hands up. The youngsters had stopped playing, and were herded away by Pete and another student. "My eyes aren't red, see?"

"You could be Mystique." Bobby said, still holding Rogue back.

He sighed, knowing they were going to need proof, which actually made him proud of them. "Okay, if I was Mystique, then how could I know about the time you got food poisoning and threw up all over my shoes?" he asked, locking eyes with Bobby. The younger X-Man quickly averted his eyes, his cheeks getting red.

"Okay, it's really him." the embarrassed cryokinetic said, releasing Rogue, who moved on with her girlish bear hug. Wolverine graciously returned the hug with a smile.

"So, tell me," he began as he released her. "where is everyone else? Do you know?" he asked.

"We haven't heard from anyone else, not even the Brotherhood." Kitty replied quietly. He looked out to the distance and Rogue returned to her boyfriend.

"We've tried calling. Mentally, and with our cell phones." Kitty added.

"Dammit." he muttered, wiping his forehead with one hand. What the hell had he gotten them into by leaving them down there?

"It's my fault they're gone. I'll go, I'll find them." he said, turning to get back in the car.

"We'll go with you." Pete spoke up. He stopped and looked back, remembering the night Stryker and his men raided the mansion. Pete had wanted to help then, just like he did now.

"You want to help me? Stay with them." he ordered, motioning to the non-X-Men.

As ridiculous as it seemed, Wolverine's plan was to follow the scents of those he left at the school, at least it would point him in the right direction. He got back in the car, which was still running, and again weaved cautiously through the trees, watching the mutants shrink in his rearview mirror.

* * *

><p>The school was his starting point, and he prayed he could find at least half a metaphorical breadcrumb to get him going. He inhaled deeply, closing his eyes to help him hone in on the scents he needed.<p>

He could faintly smell them: Storm, Scott, the Professor, Magneto, even Mystique and Pyro. He also smelled the SWAT guys he led to the slaughter. He smelled blood, which put a pang of worry in his stomach, and he tried to rationalize it as belonging to Mystique or Pyro. The smells were leading away from the building, and he followed until he lost them, all of them, at the end of the drive way.

'_Shit_.' he mentally cursed, curling his hands into fists. A whirring sound caught his attention and he spun around as the basketball court opened up, releasing the X-Jet.

'_The jet's leaving…autopilot…they're alive!_' his mind slowly connected the dots, and a small smile made itself known on his face. He ran to the car and called Scott, getting an answer after four rings. There was no voice, but he could hear breathing.

"Scott, it's me, I'm back to normal." he said, hoping it was one of them on the other line and not a cop who got a hold of the jet's remote. There was a pause, but he could faintly hear the Professor and Scott talking. Some extensive mind readings led them to believe he was free from the drug.

"How'd you do it?" Scott asked.

"I'll explain later. Where are you guys?" he asked.

"Capitol City. We're all alive, somehow. The Blackbird's on its way, so we should be back before long." Scott answered.

"Good, that's…really good. We'll see you soon." he said.

"Yeah." Scott agreed, and they hung up.

Once again speeding well beyond the legal limit, he reached the Brotherhood bunker, and told everyone the good news. "They'll be back in a couple hours. I think it's safe to stay at the school; no one's there."

"Come on, kids, who wants to help make a welcome back party for our teachers?" Rogue asked, a little over-enthusiastically. There was a way-too-loud chorus of 'yay's and 'I do!'s, but he couldn't help but smile, regardless of their migraine-inducing pitch.

* * *

><p>After five back-and-forth trips between the two mutant locations, everyone was back where they should be. Bobby followed him back to the Brotherhood's in another car. He couldn't believe he was helping the enemy by returning their car and busted door, but honestly, hadn't everyone been through enough? And it's not like they couldn't fix the door or anything.<p>

"Move over. I'm driving." he said, shooing Bobby into the passenger seat of his car.

Two and a half hour passed, sitting in the school, starting to return to normal, and the sound of the Blackbird returning echoed into the mansion. Just like the last time everyone was back at the school, the students and teachers enjoyed themselves, while the Brotherhood remained in the med bay. From what he could gather, Pyro and Mystique were back to normal as well. They were a little worse for wear, but they were back.

After a bit of talking, he joined Scott to go down to the med bay to keep an eye on their nemeses. When they went into the room, all three of the Brotherhood members were fast asleep, their vitals remaining steady. No bandages needed to be changed, everything was normal; quiet.

"So," Wolverine began. "How exactly _did_ you guys make it out of there?"

"We honestly don't know. Something was down there. It…it saved us." Scott said, looking at him.

For some reason, that unnerved him. Something about his tone…it was…resigned?

"What about you? It seemed like you were holding something back up there. How'd you get back? Obviously, you didn't get man-handled by Magneto." Scott pried, moving to a chair to sit down.

Wolverine followed, plopping down next to Cyclops. "My mind played tricks on me." he said. No need to bring up Jean, especially not now. They were both doing so much better, emotionally.

* * *

><p>(Mystique)<p>

She woke up in a cold sweat, trying to forget the nightmare she just had. The lights in the X-Men's little hospital room were dimmed, but she could clearly see both Pyro and Erik still sleeping. With a small groan, she sat up. Her side was killing her, but so was her bladder.

After relieving herself, she started to head back to her bed, but a dripping sound caught her groggy attention. It was coming from Pyro's general direction. "Pyro?" she whispered, tentatively approaching his bed as she looked for the source of the sound. She circled to the side of the bed he was facing and watched him sleep for a couple seconds.

_drip…drip…drip_

What _was_ that? At first she thought someone's IV got loose and was now dripping onto the floor. She checked Pyro's, but it was secure. She moved away to check Magneto's when a soft, metallic _clang _brought her back to her boyfriend's bedside. That sound definitely came from him.

_drip…drip…drip…_

She slowly kneeled down to find the source of both sounds, and felt a scream rise in her throat. A scalpel was lying in a large pool of blood that definitely was not there a minute ago! She bolted up, and Pyro's slashed wrists fell out from under the covers, as if his corpse were showing them to her.

"NO! No, no, no, no!" she screamed, cradling his freezing cold body.

She woke up again, sweat beading her forehead. But this time, she was lying next to Pyro, in their bed. She hastily checked his wrists, which were still bandaged, but not excessively bloody.

"What're you doin'?" Pyro mumbled in his sleep.

"It's nothing. I'm sorry, go back to bed." she whispered, stroking his hair. Boy, he needed a haircut. And a shave. And a shower. But those could wait until he was feeling better. Maybe if she was well enough, she'd join him with the last part.

She stretched her sore muscles, wincing as her side flared at the movement. She put a hand to the bandaged wound, worrying she had ripped her stitches. Some examining proved she didn't, thankfully. She tried to remember when exactly they returned home, but all that came up was hazy fog. She must've been more tired than she thought!

She draped Pyro's arm over his stomach so he wouldn't accidentally roll over it in his sleep, and she held his fiery warm hand in hers before finally drifting off to sleep, knowing in her heart that they would all be okay, no matter what humanity threw at them next.

* * *

><p>AN: Okay, so that's it. It's over. X-Men: The Last Stand is intended to follow this, so if you've seen it, you know things don't stay normal for everyone.

So if you made it this far, thank you. Here's an imaginary candy bar (whatever kind you love). I know it got slow at times, but I envisioned this as a movie, which has it's slow parts, and things that don't make sense, and unresolved issues, and whatnot.


End file.
